Results 1-20 of 258 for blasphemy

Order of Business (9 May 2017) See 1 other result from this debate

Enda Kenny: I note the comments in the current controversy about this matter. I understand that there have been no public prosecutions for blasphemy under the 2009 Act. I also understand the last prosecution for blasphemy by public authorities in Ireland is thought to have been in 1855, which is quite a distance back. The current statutory provision for the offence of blasphemy is section 36 of the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Constitutional Convention Recommendations (9 Jun 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The offence of blasphemy is contained in Article 40.6.1(i) of the Constitution, which provides that 'The publication or utterance of blasphemous ... material is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law.' The current statutory provision for the offence of blasphemy is section 36 of the Defamation Act 2009, which defines what constitutes blasphemy, and what defences and...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Proposed Legislation (14 Jul 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Government agreed in September 2014 to hold a referendum on removing the offence of blasphemy from the Constitution (Art 40.6.1(i)), in response to the 6th Report of the Convention on the Constitution, after completing the necessary further consultations and preparing amending legislation regarding the statutory offence of blasphemy contained in the Defamation Act 2009. The Programme...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Oct 2018)

Brendan Howlin: On Friday, the people will be asked to remove the offence of blasphemy from the Constitution as recommended by the Constitutional Convention. We should remove blasphemy from the Constitution. We should also strengthen the legislation to prohibit religious hatred. The Labour Party introduced the original equality legislation that outlawed discrimination on the basis of religion. We have...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Feb 2012) See 1 other result from this debate

Ivana Bacik: I call for a debate on blasphemy law. There was an excellent briefing yesterday from Professor David Nash of Oxford Brookes University, a leading expert on blasphemy, who spoke about the international impact of the passage of the 2009 Defamation Act in Ireland, particularly section 36, which created a new statutory offence of blasphemy. There was an excellent debate on it in this House, and...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Constitutional Amendments (23 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy will be aware, the Government agreed in September 2014 to hold a referendum on removing the offence of blasphemy from the Constitution (Art 40.6.1(i)), in response to the 6th Report of the Convention on the Constitution. The Programme for a Partnership Government also proposes that a number of referenda be held, including a referendum on the question of removing the offence...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009) See 46 other results from this debate

Ivana Bacik: ...Amendment) Act 1990. I wanted to clarify that with the Minister. I want to address the substance of these provisions and express my strong opposition to the statutory definition of the offence of blasphemy. I do not say the Minister is creating a new offence of blasphemy. I accept he seeks to insert a statutory definition of a common law offence that is also stated in the Constitution....

Seanad: Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018: Second Stage - An Bille um an Seachtú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Cion a aisghairm arb éard é ní diamhaslach a fhoilsiú nó a aithris) 2018: An Dara Céim (20 Sep 2018) See 1 other result from this debate

David Stanton: ...only be made by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government when the necessary referendum Bill has been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas. It is intended that the referendum on blasphemy will take place on the same day as the Presidential election, which is scheduled for 26 October. In these circumstances, there are inevitable time pressures and constraints when it...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Constitutional Amendments (24 Jun 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The current statutory provisions on blasphemy are sections 36 and 37 of the Defamation Act 2009. These sections replaced the equivalent section 13 in the Defamation Act 1961, though the current provisions provide for a more limited and strictly defined offence, for new defences, and for reduced penalties, compared with the 1961 Act. As the Deputy will be aware, the statutory provisions on...

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (28 Apr 2009) See 1 other result from this answer

Micheál Martin: I am concerned about a number of human rights issues in Pakistan, including the blasphemy laws. The blasphemy laws are designed to punish those judged to have engaged in derogatory behaviour towards Islam, such as insults to the Prophet Mohammed and the Qu'ran. As implemented, the laws can serve to interfere with the right of individuals to practise their religion freely and curtail freedom...

Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2017: First Stage (12 Jul 2017)

Róisín Shortall: I thank the Chair. The purpose of the two Bills is pretty straightforward. The Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Blasphemy) Bill 2017 would allow a referendum to go ahead that would seek the approval of the electorate for the removal of the offence of blasphemy from the Constitution. This would involve amending Article 46.1.1° of the Constitution. The Defamation (Amendment)...

Seanad: Blasphemy (Abolition of Offences and Related Matters) Bill 2019: Second Stage (25 Sep 2019) See 1 other result from this debate

Ned O'Sullivan: The Fianna Fáil Party will support this legislation. On 26 October 2018, citizens voted overwhelmingly - 64.85% - in favour of removing blasphemy from the Constitution. In 2009 the then Fianna Fail Minister for Justice and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, stated that as a republican his personal opinion was that church and State should separate and that he favoured abolishing the offence of...

Seanad: Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages - An Bille um an Seachtú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Cion a aisghairm arb éard é ní diamhaslach a fhoilsiú nó a aithris) 2018: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha (20 Sep 2018) See 1 other result from this debate

Michael McDowell: I want to make a few observations. Indecency is as flexible a concept as blasphemy. There were times when people who doubted and publicly refuted the biblical explanation of the garden of Eden and the story of Adam and Eve were accused of blasphemy. Obviously blasphemy as a concept is one which has changed with the passage of time, as has indecency. There is no doubt about that. The mere...

An Bille um an Seachtú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Cion a aisghairm arb éard é ní diamhaslach a fhoilsiú nó a aithris) 2018: An Dara Céim - Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018: Second Stage (18 Sep 2018)

Charles Flanagan: ...we have moved from the 20th into the 21st century. Fundamental values are timeless, but some concepts are deeply rooted in a particular time and a particular view of what is socially appropriate. Blasphemy is one such concept, and it is with the removal of the reference to blasphemy from our Constitution that we are concerned this evening. Before proceeding further, I express my...

Seanad: Priorities in Foreign Affairs: Statements (2 Feb 2012) See 1 other result from this debate

Jillian van Turnhout: ...civil servant, whose name I will supply to the Tánaiste separately, for having questioned the existence of God on his Facebook profile page. He has been charged under Indonesian law prohibiting blasphemy and faces five years imprisonment if found guilty. The reason I raise this case with the Tánaiste is that Indonesia is one of a number of Islamic states that has cited Irish blasphemy...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Blasphemy (Abolition of Offences and Related Matters) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2019)

Charles Flanagan: ...Reid, Ms Noreen Walsh, and Mr. Terence O'Hagan. The Bill gives further effect to the thirty-seventh amendment to the Constitution by removing the statutory provisions that define an offence of blasphemy. Members will recall that the Thirty-Seventh Amendment of the Constitution, which was approved by the people in last year’s referendum, removed the requirement that publishing or...

Written Answers — Constitutional Amendments: Constitutional Amendments (7 May 2009) See 1 other result from this answer

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 88 and 90 together. The Government has no immediate proposals for the holding of a referendum on blasphemy. The 1961 Defamation Act provides that a person can be both fined and imprisoned for a maximum of seven years for the crime of blasphemous libel. The Government is moving to reform that Act - for example by removing the possibility of imprisonment while...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Jul 2009) See 1 other result from this debate

David Norris: ...of very loose definitions. I am astonished by the behaviour of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Dermot Ahern, in the other House. He has agreed to cut the fines for the blasphemy sections of the law from €100,000 to €25,000, and said yesterday in the Dáil that the draft of the legislation on blasphemy has been deliberately drawn up to make it virtually...

Sixth Report of the Constitutional Convention - Blasphemy: Statements (2 Oct 2014) See 3 other results from this debate

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I propose to report to the Dáil on the Government's response to the sixth report of the Constitutional Convention, which proposes the removal of the offence of blasphemy from the Constitution. The convention was established by Government in 2012 to consider a range of issues on which constitutional change may be needed and to report on its conclusions to the Houses of the Oireachtas....

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Jul 2009)

Eugene Regan: ...and that, in setting out the procedure, it does not care what amendments are tabled. The Green Party is acquiescing in this and acquiesced in supporting the legislation on the medieval offence of blasphemy. Last week, Mr. Jason O'Mahony's blog stated that Senator de Búrca put on record during her European election campaign that she and the Green Party are against the legislation on...

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