Breakdown of the Blasphemy Referendum

As the outshone sibling of the presidential election, the referendum on blasphemy has seemingly been eclipsed by the egos of the Dragons and obscured by even the shadow the incumbent President. Regardless of the position of the referendum on your list of priorities, on the 26th of October you will enter the polling booth to be met with the six smiling faces of the candidates on your white polling card and two boxes marked ‘Tá’ and ‘Níl’ on your green. You mark your preferences… and then what? If you’re in a state of frustrated confusion about which box will get your ‘X’, blame Stephen Fry.

‘How dare [God] create a world in which there is such misery that is not our fault. It’s utterly evil. Why should I respect such a stupid, capricious, mean-minded god who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain? The god who created this world – if it was created by a god – is a maniac. A total, utter maniac,’ Gay Byrne looks stupefied, blindsided by his atheist interviewee’s eruption. Eyes wide, The Meaning of Life host sits back in his chair. It is February 2015 and Byrne has just asked the writer, comedian and Englishman Stephen Fry on what he would say to God at ‘the pearly gates’. His reply went viral, igniting controversy Byrne hasn’t seen since the Honeymoon Nightie Quiz.

A few days later, a man reported a crime at Ennis Garda station in Clare, citing Fry and RTÉ as the perpetrators. The unnamed man referenced the Defamation Act 2009 as he accused Stephen Fry of uttering blasphemy and it was not until 2017 did his report materialise in the form of a garda probe into the comments. Fry faced a fine of €25,000 which failed to come into fruition, the conviction rate for crimes of blasphemy has been 0 since an accidental burning of the bible by a Redemptorist priest in 1855. The complainant reassured the media that he himself was not offended by Fry’s derogation of God, he was simply doing his civic duty by reporting a crime. The case, according to Atheist Ireland, ‘highlights a law that is silly, silencing, and dangerous.’

The law Atheist Ireland alluded to is the aforementioned Defamation Act of 2009. The bill was ratified by Brian Cowan’s coalition in apparent response to the 1999 Supreme Court Case, Corway v. Independent Papers, wherein a caricature of a priest in a post-divorce-referendum society exposed a gap in previous legislation – the Defamation Act of 1961, which outlined the penalties for blasphemy, did not provide its definition. As a result, the offence was unpunishable and it was undefined until 2009. Blasphemy was denoted as an utterance of ‘matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion’ by an individual or their publisher. There is no definition of blasphemy in the Constitution, to which the Act refers.

Article 40.6.1 of the Constitution states that citizens have the right to freely express their opinions, unless their opinions are blasphemous. Then, their opinions are a criminal offence. It says, ‘the publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with the law.’ The referendum next Friday proposes to just remove the word ‘blasphemous’ from this article. That’s all.

If you mark the ‘Yes/Tá’ box with an ‘X’, you agree that blasphemy should not be a criminal offence. The 2010 Venice Commission conferred with you, saying that while ‘incitement to hatred, including religious hatred, should be a crime; insult to religious feelings should not be a crime; and that the offence of blasphemy should be abolished and should not be reintroduced.’ ‘Yes’ Voters argue that the article on blasphemy is unworkable due to its non-existent conviction rate and that the article does not protect non-believers, it only elevates religious discrimination over other forms of discrimination. According to the Independent, Ireland is the only country in the developed world to have introduced a blasphemy law in this century. ‘Yes’ Voters, as a result, conclude that it is an archaic law which prevents the complete separation of Church and State.

Those supporting a ‘Yes’ vote believe the Article to be an exercise in censorship. Sarahrose Murphy, an Executive Legal Officer of the Supreme Court, labelled the criminalisation of blasphemy as ‘the chilling effect of self-censorship.’ In 2015, the Charlie Hebdo killings occurred and 12 people were murdered by two gunmen for publishing satirical, blasphemous cartoons of the prophet Mohammed. Irish media outlets did not publish the cartoons in fear of the €25,000 fine. The Irish Times unequivocally defended the right of Charlie Hebdo to publish as it was the freedom of the press to do so, but could not do so themselves due to Article 40.6.1.

Currently, Ireland’s merely performative blasphemy laws are weakening the ability of the European Union to partake in dialogue with countries where these laws are a matter of life and death, according to Mairead McGuinness, the Vice-President of the European Parliament. Islamic governments have proved her point, countries such as Pakistan, which impose the death penalty on those who utter blasphemy, have cited Ireland as an example of ‘Western governments protecting their historic faith.’

If you mark the ‘No/Níl’ box with an ‘X’, you register your approval with the current article of the constitution and blasphemy will be preserved as an offence punishable by a fine of €25,000. ‘No’ Voters argue that the current article protects religious beliefs and Ireland’s status as a multicultural, multi-denominational society as the law deters religious disrespect. Advocates for a ‘No’ vote at the Convention on the Constitution in 2014 believed the article ‘does not do any harm as it stands because there have been no convictions… Therefore removing it could do more harm than good and it is preferable to retain the status quo.’ 53% of this committee believed the Article should be replaced and reworded in a criminalisation of the incitement to religious hatred. This, however, is not what the government has proposed in the referendum. We must vote to either repeal or preserve Article 40.6.1 on blasphemy.

Regardless of your position in the referendum, if you can vote, exercise your right. Polling cards are being shipped out over the coming days, if you haven’t gotten one, and are in doubt whether or not you will, check the electoral register at checktheregister.ie. If you’re registered and still do not receive your polling card, don’t worry! Bring a form of identification and also one that proves your address (such as a bank bill) in your constituency to the polling station and you’re good to go. Remember, the only mark on your ballot can be your ‘X’, anything else will spoil your vote.

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