Ireland’s new hatred law is puzzling and ambiguous

David Thunder

October 28, 2024 4 Reactions

The bad news is, some deeply problematic elements have been preserved in the revised bill, most notably:

(1) the creation of a new category of crime, “offences aggravated by hatred” (yes, you’ve guessed it, “hatred” is nowhere actually defined in a non-circular manner) against any one of the “protected” groups listed in the legislation (race, colour, nationality, religion, national or ethnic origin, descent, gender, “sex characteristics,” sexual orientation, disability);

and

(2) the erection of a brand new definition of “gender” that is hopelessly vague and frankly unintelligible, but also highly amenable to the purposes of the trans lobby, which include the immunisation of transgender ideas and practices from public criticism. The definition of “gender” provided in the bill goes as follows:

“gender” means the gender of a person or the gender which a person expresses as the person’s preferred gender or with which the person identifies and includes transgender and a gender other than those of male and female.

Notably, the revised legislation reinforces and expands the legal doctrine that certain groups in society, under certain circumstances, should enjoy special legal protections not enjoyed by your average man or woman on the street, an idea that seems to put in question the whole idea of equal protection of the law, guaranteed in Article 40 of the Irish Constitution.

The question is, will the Irish people recognise that this government seems more in tune with “progressive” NGOs than ordinary citizens, and seems more interested in policing their speech than protecting their streets? Will Irish citizens have the good sense to punish a government intent on dismantling their rights, or will they keep propping up the mainstream parties, as they have in the past? We will find out in the upcoming elections, slated to be held later this year.  

Predictions for next year?

David Thunder is a researcher and lecturer of political philosophy at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain.

This article has been republished from David Thunder’s Substack, The Freedom Blog.

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