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THE TAOISEACH HAS said he still wants to see hate speech laws updated, despite plans being scrapped from proposed legislation last week.
At the weekend it emerged that Justice Minister Helen McEntee has decided to proceed with proposed legislation relating to hate crime but has dropped the hate speech elements from the bill. The Minister said the decision came down to a lack of consensus among Fine Gael party members on the issue.
The bill is set to proceed only with the elements that deal with hate crime, including providing for higher prison sentences for certain crimes where it is proven that the crime was motivated by hatred or where hatred was demonstrated.
The hate speech legislation, intended to penalise abusive or threatening communication that targeted a person due to their race, nationality, ethnicity, gender, disability, religion or sexual orientation, has been the subject of protest by far-right agitators and conspiracy theorists.
Speaking to reporters in New York last night where the Taoiseach is attending the United Nations General Assembly, Harris said his personal view is that updated hate speech laws are needed but should first be considered by the Oireachtas justice committee.
Laws already exist on hate speech in Ireland but the government’s bill proposed to strengthen the legal recognition of hatred in the criminal justice system.
“On balance, the stage we’re at in the political cycle, and indeed, reflecting the fact that there had been a number of concerns raised around freedom of speech in the balance, we’ve decided to go ahead with the hate crime because I believe we can realistically get that passed in the lifetime of this government,” the Taoiseach said today.
When asked what his personal view is on the need for such legislation, Harris said: “My personal view is exactly the same as the Minister for Justice, that we’re right to pass the legislation with hate crime, we do need to strengthen legislation on hate speech, and I agree fully with Helen in relation to that, but I also agree with her that we do need to see if we can create some level of consensus around this.”
He said there were two issues with getting the bill passed in its initial form.
Firstly, that people had “genuine concerns” in relation to freedom of speech and “getting the balance right”.
But secondly, that some politicians played “absolute, blatant flip flop politics” with the issue “by voting for it in the Dáil and then campaigning against it online”.
“We have a law on the books already. It is out of date, though, and does need to be updated,” Harris said.
Jane Matthews reporting from New York.
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I’ll just have to check their website or social media while driving now for updates….
@⚡ Seánie ⚡: Could this possibly be connected? https://www.broadsheet.ie/2019/02/07/jam-today-rte-and-aa-roadwatch/
@Here’s How Podcast: Full story on the podcast here: https://blog.hereshow.ie/2019/02/heres-how-82-rte-and-the-aa/
@⚡ Seánie ⚡: You might have to pay for this service now|
Elaine o Sullivan AA road watch ! I’m gonna miss her voice
@Marko: and Ester Moore ODonoghue
@Marko: Arwen Foley was the one for me.
@Alan McArdle: Lorraine Keane anyone?
@Bill Spill: I certainly would. Met her at electric office many years ago. What a lady
@Adrian O’Donnell: Electric Office? Were you having a picnic together?
@Marko: sometimes sounded like she said the A 3 times. Maybe she’d been out the night before.
No more rind-a-bits being busy so.
@theseadoc: nothing will stop the dunkettle interchange being blocked
@Stuart:
@Stuart:
@Stuart: ah the memories of random places we only know through this broadcast! They might not even exist half of them.
Typical big buyer slashing overheads, and never mind who it affects.
@John Nolan: Ridiculous comment. Are they not entitled to make business decisions in their own interests? Why don’t you set up a traffic notification service and provide it to radio stations if it means so much to you?
What ever became of electric Eddie, eye in the sky… Probably dead and buried somewhere on the Con Colbert road, the only location with traffic back in the day
@Shay Murray: it’s driver is stuck at the Red Cow Roundabout
Who’s going to provide traffic reports for the radio stations now ? It’s a major loss for serious road users. It was fantastic to hear the traffic reports on the hour after the news and if something was happening on the road your driving on, you were notified of it. Another backwards step. In the UK, you don’t even have to wait for the news, the traffic reports interrupt whatever station your listening to.
@Sean Walsh: that is because the traffic situation in the UK is an absolute ball breaker. Not even comparable to here. Or was a ball breaker, pre covid..
Laren behan … a beautiful voice !
How will I find my in into the meeja now, love island won’t take me, AA roadwatch gone, crimewatch auditions go nowhere, and I won’t stoop to fair city levels just yet!
At least that’s a few annoying voices off the airwaves.
Useless anyway. Radio reports are brutal. Dublin 103.2 for traffic reports in real time.
@Jimmy Reid: hasn’t been the same since John left though.
Was never helpful to me. Everytime it was the same report “traffic heavy on the dunnekettle” its always heavy.
@Michael: The AA are losing money – most if not all insurance companies or garages provide breakdown cover
Have they an app? They could seek to integrate their real time info with Google maps.
@HarveyLemonade: Where there’s a will, there’s a Waze.
@HarveyLemonade: you can see traffic build ups on Google maps and Apple maps if you Amber lines on maps that’s traffic build up and red lines is traffic at a stop. Also Apple maps is eventually bringing in incident reporting to Ireland like Waze where you can report traffic, accidents speed checks etc
Patnav on Nova will have to do.
A fantastic podcast on the whole situation.
https://blog.hereshow.ie/2019/02/heres-how-82-rte-and-the-aa/?ref=Broadsheet
Bring back The eye in the Sky ! Helicopter service.
They were always rubbish anyway. I well remember the bad old days when I lived in Kildare, and you’d regularly hit a monster traffic jam on the N7 that AA Roadwatch would conveniently have forgotten to mention.
Lorraine Keane, AA Roadwatch
Why? Nooooooooo!
No more helpful mentions of their names by RTÉ presenters in order to help them up on the “celebrity” bandwagon ” ah well Swings and rindeabouts I suppose.
No more traffic “Nooze” then?
Karen Chew all day long.
Anyone remember the ozzie girl,BUMPER TO BUMPER..
@Peter Bell: that does rind a bell Peter.
@Peter Bell: that does ring a bell Peter.
Can’t read websites while driving
Delighted.
The AA and RTÉ themselves are no longer of any relevance.
What motorist would wish to have constant blabbering on a radio, same format from the same sounding stations who constantly have to announce their frequency or name to stay relevant.
Get an iPod or a subscription to Spotify or similar.
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