Tag: ireland

ECRI Pressures Ireland and Finland to Adopt New “Hate Speech” Laws and Speech Monitoring Systems

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has issued another set of polite bureaucratic thunderbolts, this time aimed at Ireland and Finland, for not cracking down hard enough on their citizens’ conversations.

The group, operating under the Council of Europe, says both nations have been dragging their feet on what it calls “hate speech.”

In other words, they’re not censoring fast enough.

In Ireland’s case, ECRI was appalled to discover that the country’s “extremely limited” legal framework still leaves some room for public disagreement online.

The commission noted with concern that certain hate speech provisions were removed from the Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Act 2024, and urged Dublin to correct the oversight by writing new laws to target such expression.

The report didn’t stop there. It called for a national data system to document “racist and LGBTI-phobic bullying and violence in schools” and a “comprehensive data collection” program for hate crimes and hate speech.

It even floated the idea of regulating “election-related misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy,” which it deemed “critical to limit the spread of hateful ideas.”

So the plan is clear: build a bureaucracy that tracks words, ideas, and schoolyard insults, then hand election discourse over to regulatory authorities. What could go wrong?

ECRI did find time to congratulate Ireland for its National Action Plan Against Racism and inclusion programs for Roma and Traveller communities.

But after that brief applause, the hammer came back down. Hate speech, it concluded, remains “widespread.” More laws, more oversight, more policing of conversation.

Finland’s report read like a blueprint for speech management. ECRI announced that hate speech there “has increased and reached a critical level,” though it didn’t specify what exactly counts as hate speech, or how “critical” was measured.

The group praised Finnish police for maintaining “a regular presence in a web-based gaming platform” where officers act as “game police” and talk to young users about hate speech and online crime. It’s not satire, that’s in the official report.

ECRI proposed creating a national working group to design new policies against hate speech and advised police to unify their methods for “recognition, unmasking and official recording” of hate.

Schools, it said, should install systems to track “racist and LGBTI-phobic incidents,” while even non-criminal “hate incidents” should be formally recognized and logged.

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DUBLIN RISES: Irish Citizens Explode in Wrath After Algerian Migrant Rapes 10-Year-Old Girl – Police Attack Protesters

Irish citizens have had enough, and the police protect the illegals. 

It’s a sad, but repetitive story: in the midst of the invasion of Europe by military-aged males posing as ‘asylum seekers’, a ten-year-old girl in Dublin, Ireland, was raped by an Algerian man who is housed, fed, and clothed by the Irish taxpayer’s money.

While in many EU countries the population has been drawn to apathy, in Ireland a fury has spread like fire among the citizenry, and for two nights the protests have centered around the migrant hotel.

The Guarda (Irish police), always ready to protect the invaders, charged on the protesting citizens, and in turn, officers were attacked with bricks, glass bottles and fireworks as the protest turned violent.

The Telegraph reported:

“Thousands gathered at the Citywest Hotel in Saggart after reports that a 10-year-old girl had been sexually assaulted by an asylum seeker.

Witnesses saw a police van set on fire as protesters waved Irish flags and chanted: ‘Get them out’.

The crowd attempted to breach a police cordon outside the hotel, with some carrying garden forks and other tools.”

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Ireland Rejects EU Hate-speech Dictate

The deadline to bow down to the European Union’s “hate speech” dictate has passed, and Ireland remains defiant. Last week, the country’s minister for justice, Jim O’Callaghan, said the government would not “reintroduce hate speech legislation previously rejected by parliament,” even though the EU continues to pressure them to do so.

“I’m fairly satisfied Ireland has transposed the European Council framework decision on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia in a manner appropriate and tailored to domestic law,” O’Callaghan said, according to reports.

In June, the EU told Ireland it had a two months left to comply with its censorship dictate or risk being dragged into international court. Ireland is accused of violating laws outlined in the EU’s 2008 EU Framework Decision, which requires member states to criminalize “hate speech” based on race, color, religion, descent, or ethnicity, as well as on Holocaust denial. Supposedly, the law is intended to prevent the incitement of violence.

But, as we recently reported, the idea of “hate speech” is a ploy for brainwashing people into believing that thoughts by themselves can be crimes.

Irish officials believe they already have sufficient laws to address the EU’s concerns without intruding on free speech. The “Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989” punishes those who incite hatred based on characteristics such as race, religion, or nationality. According to the Irish Courts Service, five convictions have been recorded under the act since 2017.

But EU officials say that the legislation is not good enough.

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FREEDOM WINS: Irish Government Informs European Union That It Will Not Introduce Globalist ‘Hate Speech’ Laws

‘Free speech’ – no ‘hate speech’.

As Margaret Flavin reported on TGP last June, Ireland is holding the line for freedom against the European Union goons who wish to insert harmful legislation on every nation in the old continent.

The EU Court of Justice has warned Ireland that it has until August to comply with the ‘hate speech’ laws (a.k.a. censure).

Under existing EU rules on combating racism and xenophobia, the European Commission believes Ireland is allegedly uncompliant with laws ‘criminalizing race-based violence and hatred’.

August, of course, has come and gone, so today, on the Daíl (Irish Parliament), in a session scheduled for questions to the Minister of Justice Jim O’Callaghan, the issue was debated.

Breaking!

The Irish government has informed the EU they will not comply with a demand to force hate speech laws on the public.

Hugely significant moment for free speech. pic.twitter.com/hbgN4RrxNH

— MichaeloKeeffe (@Mick_O_Keeffe) October 9, 2025

“MP: ‘Is it your intention to reintroduce the hate speech legislation that was a dramatic failure in the last government and proposed by the previous Minister for Justice?’

Justice Minister: ‘The answer is no. But can I just give you an overview as to why the answer is no? I’m fairly satisfied that Ireland has transposed the European Council framework decision on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia in a manner appropriate and tailored to the domestic system of law in Ireland.’

Justice Minister: ‘I want to assure Members of the House that Ireland’s position has been communicated to the European Commission and our position is that the framework decision is fully transposed in Irish legislation in a manner that is appropriate and tailored to Ireland’s domestic system of criminal law and procedure.’

Justice Minister: ‘And is in line of course with Article 40.6 of the Constitution which expressly respects and protects the rights to freedom of expression and people to express their views freely.”

This confirmation comes a few days after the Donald J. Trump administration asking the Irish Government ‘to urge the European Union to allow member states to address hate speech as each sees fit’.

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Ireland’s Prime Minister Declares ‘Ireland For The Irish’ an Incitement to Violence

Ireland’s Taoiseach has claimed the phrase “Ireland for the Irish” amounts to an incitement of violence.

According to the Irish Examiner, Prime Minister Micheál Martin said that his country was at a “very serious crossroads.”

“There is a narrative growing in this country which is trying to other people because of their colour, their race, their creed,” Martin said.

“I think the vast, vast majority of Irish people recoil at this, but we have to be better, more strategic in dealing with this and engaging with this because this is undermining the dignity of every child born in this country.”

Martin added that phrases like “Ireland for the Irish” promote violence against minorities and undermine societal cohesion.

“This is, to me now, an emerging societal issue for us all,” he continued. “Where do we want Ireland to go? What kind of society do we want?”

“We’ve developed, we’ve progressed. We can’t regress and that means conversations and engaging with people.”

“It’s tantamount to an incitement and it needs to stop. Irish society needs to take stock.”

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How many illegals are in Ireland? Government has no idea

The State has admitted that “no official data exists” on the number of undocumented migrants currently resident in Ireland.

In response to questions from Gript this week, the Department of Justice confirmed that it has never conducted an analysis of the undocumented population, and that “irregular migration, by its very nature, is clandestine.”

This week Gript asked the Department of Justice three questions:

1. How many undocumented migrants are currently estimated to be present in Ireland?

2. How recent is this estimate and when was the last time the State did such an analysis?

3. By what methodology was that estimate reached?

The Department reapplied: “It is not possible to accurately quantify this figure.”

They added that in cases where individuals without immigration permission are encountered by An Garda Síochána, they are referred to the Department for action such as the issuing of a deportation order.

The admission comes despite the fact that, in 2022, then-Justice Minister Helen McEntee oversaw a “Regularisation of Long-Term Undocumented Migrants Scheme” which offered mass amnesty to those living illegally in the State without status long-term.

Between January and July 2022, the Government invited applications under the scheme from those meeting residency and character requirements, even allowing applicants who held live deportation orders to apply.

“You can apply for this scheme if you…have met the required residency criteria…are of good character and of good conduct, and have no adverse criminal record,” the official FAQ document stated.

The document also noted that “applications will be accepted for processing from applicants who hold a deportation order” provided other criteria were met.

The application fee was €550 for an individual and €700 for a family.

By August 2023, a total of 5,893 applications under the scheme had been determined. Of these, 4,710 were granted, 1,065 were refused, and 118 were withdrawn.

However, there are plausible reasons why other illegal migrants may not have applied for the scheme, such as cost, past criminal convictions, or fear of authorities.

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Civil liberties group opposes Garda access to messages

Plans to force encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal to give Gardaí access to private conversations would “profoundly undermine” digital security, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has said.

In a statement issued this week, the group said cybersecurity experts were unanimous that so-called “backdoors” for law enforcement could not be created without also leaving users vulnerable to hackers and malicious actors.

“It is impossible to create ‘backdoor’ access pathways for law enforcement that can’t also be exploited,” the organisation said.

The ICCL added that encryption protects not only personal conversations but also online banking, shopping and wider digital activity.

“We all rely on encryption to safeguard our sensitive personal data when browsing, communicating or doing business online,” it said.

“Forcing companies to break their own encryption would profoundly undermine our digital security, as well as our fundamental rights to privacy and data protection.”

The council cited the position of the United Nations and the European Court of Human Rights in opposing laws that compromise encryption. It also highlighted the recent example of the UK government withdrawing a demand for Apple to install a backdoor into its cloud services, after the company refused.

“Apple stated it had never built – and never would build – backdoor access into any of its encrypted products,” the ICCL noted.

“Instead, Apple disabled its advanced data protection service in the UK and challenged the order in court.”

The group urged Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan to reconsider his planned legislation, describing the proposals as “neither proportionate nor technically sound.”

It called for “transparent consultation with cybersecurity experts, civil society and technologists before proposing any legislation that could irreversibly damage digital privacy and cybersecurity.”

Last month, O’Callaghan told an audience that Gardaí must have powers to intercept modern communications.

“None of us would like to imagine living in a surveillance State,” he said.

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Family horror: Relatives get told on social media their mother is dead, by ‘assisted suicide’

A family in Ireland is working through the shock notification, on social media, that their mother is dead – by “assisted suicide,” in a situation about which they knew nothing.

According to the Christian Institute, Maureen Slough, 58, from County Cavan, left, telling family members she was going on holiday to Lithuania.

Instead, she went to the death-dealing Pegasos clinic in Switzerland.

Her family was notified shortly later, via social media platform WhatsApp, that she was dead.

The institute reported, “She had struggled with mental health and previously tried to commit suicide after the death of her two sisters.”

Pegasos officials claimed her daughter, Megan Royal, had confirmed her mother’s intentions, Megan said the “acknowledgment letter” probably was forged.

Writing in the Sunday Independent, columnist David Quinn stated: “It is a sad part of the human condition that nearly all of us will face very significant struggles at various points in our lives. Maureen Slough clearly did, but she had a loving daughter willing to help her,” the institute explained.

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Why Are the Irish Media Ignoring an Apparent Islamist Knife Attack?

On July 29th 2025, a member of the Irish police (Garda Siochana) was attacked by Abdullah Khan, a second-generation Pakistani Muslim immigrant in Dublin city centre. Ireland’s state broadcaster, RTE, in the immediate aftermath of the knife attack was quick to assert that the attacker had Irish citizenry: “The man, who is an Irish citizen and born in Ireland, can be questioned for up to 24 hours.”

However, those of us of a more cynical disposition across these islands have noticed in recent years that when the media rush to assert the Irish or British identity of a violent criminal, it usually signifies he’s from a non-European ethnic minority background. If last week’s Dublin knife attacker had been an indigenous Irish man, we wouldn’t have been informed of what passport he’s entitled to or where he was born. Similarly, the Welsh choirboy status of the Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana would never have been immediately asserted had he been a Welsh choirboy. Unfortunately for Ireland’s biased liberal-Left media and political establishment, there’s a thing called reality that people can now record on smartphones and see with their own eyes. So, as footage emerged online of last week’s knife attack, people noticed that the perpetrator wasn’t ethnically Irish and they pointed this out on social media. The media and police response was to accuse the people who noticed that the man wasn’t ethnically Irish of spreading misinformation.

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Irish High Court Rejects X’s Challenge to Online Censorship Law

The Irish High Court has thrown out a legal challenge by X, dealing a blow to the company’s pushback against Ireland’s new censorship rules for online video-sharing services.

X had taken aim at Coimisiún na Meán, the country’s media watchdog, accusing it of stepping beyond legal limits with its Online Safety Code.

The rules demand that platforms hosting user-generated videos take active steps to shield users from “harmful” material. The company had described the regulator’s actions as “regulatory overreach.”

Mr Justice Conleth Bradley, delivering judgment on Wednesday, found no merit in X’s application for judicial review. The court concluded that the regulator’s code was lawful and that its provisions fell within the scope of both the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) and Ireland’s 2009 Broadcasting Act.

According to the ruling, the code does not clash with the Digital Services Act and can function in tandem with EU law.

Responding to the outcome, Coimisiún na Meán said it welcomed the decision and intended to examine the ruling closely before offering more detailed comment.

The case comes as X begins rolling out new age verification systems to meet obligations under the Irish code, alongside compliance efforts aimed at satisfying UK and wider EU digital censorship regulations.

The ruling marks a significant moment in the ongoing struggle over who decides the boundaries of online speech and content moderation.

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