Dublin, November 12, 2024.
On October 29, 2024, 83-year-old Irish President Michael D. Higgins signed the "Hate Crimes Act." This came after the Irish Parliament passed the bill by a majority vote (78 in favor, 52 against).
Among the five bills that passed in the House of Representatives (the lower house of Parliament) in less than six hours on the evening of October 23 (a process that usually takes several weeks) was this one A bill that defines "gender" as a person's biological sex or the social sex that a person considers their preferred gender or with which they identify (this includes transgender people), as well as gender other than male and female.
While the bill was being debated in the Senate (upper house of parliament), Senator Sharon Keohane read out a list of the 72 genders that have now been given legal effect, and it took her a full 25 minutes to compile the full list, The European Conservative reported.
In addition to recognizing the 72 genders, the new law also criminalizes "hate speech against ethnic, sexual and gender groups." In short, the promotion of traditional values in this country, where there are still very many faithful Catholics, becomes a criminal offense.
The bill's passage followed Justice Minister Helen McEntee's announcement that she would introduce a hate crime element to the legislation.
She has previously repeatedly said it was necessary to "send a very clear message that hatred and violence will not be tolerated in the our society."
"In my opinion, we need to update our 1989 Act. I absolutely believe that should be the next item on our agenda. I would like to ensure that the ban on hate crime is enshrined in law for the first time. We are the first country in Europe to introduce such a measure and I am convinced that we vitally need it," said H. McEntee.
A number of opposition politicians expressed strong objections to the bill. Independent politician Matty McGrath, for example, said the bill should be "withdrawn".
"What's the rush? Hasty legislation usually leads to nothing good," he said, adding that the purpose of the law is "an attempt to intimidate ordinary citizens so that their voices are not heard."
"Your government is the most anti-people government I have seen in my lifetime. I don't know why you have such a dislike for the people. The games you play with it and the laws you pass do not help the people," the politician concluded.
"This is a bad law that was passed in a hurry in the last days of the bad job government," remarked Sinn Féin (Irish National Republican Party of Ireland) MP Matt Carty.
"We've been a democracy for the last 100 years. What was wrong with that? Why are we trying to change that? Why do we want to silence people and even deny them the right to speak?" - perplexed independent MP Danny Healey-Rey.
Source: https://europeanconservative.com
