Repeal Blasphemy Law

To:  Irish Government

On the 23rd of July 2009 the president of Ireland, Mary McAleese, signed a new Defamation Act into law. It includes a law against 'blasphemy causing outrage'. The maximum fine is 100,000 euro.

This law amends one which was found in 1999 to be too vague to be enforced 'in accordance with the law'. The new specification seeks to make blasphemy punishable again.

This petition is for the repeal of the law against blasphemy in Ireland, in line with the view taken by the holy see and the Irish government in international bodies such as the UN (Irish Times, May 2009).

Both the holy see, represented by Msgr Silvano Marie Tomasi, and Irish government at the UN hold that the proper legislation to address such issues is human rights and equality law, not laws against blasphemy. We hold, along with the a fore mentioned bodies that the blasphemy law is essentially anachronistic; surplus to requirement at best and a danger to constitutionally protected free speech at worst.

Because there is a provision for a blasphemy law in the Irish constitution a referendum may be required to if the Irish people are to repeal this law.

This repeal should be carried out by national referendum if necessary at a suitable time .

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Repeal Blasphemy Law Petition to Irish Government was created by and written by Gavin Foley (gavinfoley103@yahoo.co.uk).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.