Results 6,581-6,600 of 20,831 for speaker:David Norris

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: Great.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: It is not up to Senator Walsh to direct the House; it is up to the Cathaoirleach.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: That is a little constitutional point for Senator Walsh's delectation.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: In that case it is a waste of time.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I am sorry, but the Senator is not a goddess.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: He was a very holy person, as we all know, a very ethical man, although not very good with money, as far as I remember.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I am terrible with money and I am not great with the auld ethics either.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: The Senator has chased the Minister from the House.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I regret that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has been driven into retreat but I welcome the Minister of State to the House. This is a matter of the freedom of speech. One of the principal motivators of artists over the years has been pour épater les bourgeois, to shock the middle classes. That is a very worthy aim. On introducing the amendment referred to by Senator...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: Or woman, but generally speaking the one I speak to is a gentleman.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: That is the tradition and the history of Senator Mullen's own sect.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: The Minister spoke about the urgent necessity for fixing this because there had been a case some time ago on blasphemy that was rather unusual and unlikely to be repeated. I do not believe the judges in that case directed the Oireachtas to make the changes the Minister is talking about. Even if they did, it is clear from a study of the record that this and many other Ministers have blithely...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: There is such a thing as blasphemy, as I said on the Order of Business. Blasphemy was outlined by Mr. Michael O'Brien, when he talked about the treatment he suffered in an institution where he was beaten and raped and the next day the host was placed in his mouth by the same men. That seems to be something that is blasphemous, being in defiance of the decency of God and man. In terms of...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: Well, the Cathaoirleach has just listened to about six of them. I am sure he would not want to censor me because there would be the most ungodly row if that was attempted.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I do apologise, a Chathaoirligh. Thank you so much for your kind remarks. Please shower me with them as much as you can. I am giving clear and historically referenced reasons for my position on this. The only complaint from the audience about Shaw's play, when shown in the Abbey Theatre, was that it was not half hot enough. No one was actually offended. There was an interesting piece in...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: They were the ones I remember him giving. Perhaps it was, as I suspected, a malign fantasy as a result of my eating cheese. I made the point at that stage that both of those were dealt with by other laws, for example, those pertaining to conduct likely to provoke a breach of the peace, public disorder or similar. Thus, they are already covered. In other jurisdictions, of course, blasphemy...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I thought it was Violet, but it is actually Senator O'Toole. The preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: One can act as a catalyst for all kinds of odd emotions. In 2005, Greek courts found a book of cartoons to be blasphemous and issued a European arrest warrant for the Austrian cartoonist who drew them. This point is important because the court issued an international warrant which could only be effected where there is a parallel offence. We are creating a parallel offence in this country....

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: Many of its teachings are alright, except for the odd neurosis about sexuality, which it holds in common with all churches and most religions, so I do not condemn it uniquely.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: Exactly. No, no.