Eamon Martin, archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All-Ireland, has spoken out strongly about the encroaching state control of civil liberties on Ireland, highlighted by the decision of the UK Supreme Court to impose exclusion zones outside centres in Northern Ireland that provide or facilitate abortions.
This decision came following the introduction of a Bill in the Republic of Ireland which aims to do the same in the south of the island.
Archbishop Martin stated that these restrictions were “tantamount to enforcing a ban on pro-life activities, including prayer and respectful witness”. He said they were “a disproportionate response with potentially wide implications for freedom of religion and speech” and “will further silence the voice of the innocent unborn”.
When questioned about the Archbishop’s statement in the Irish Parliament, An Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheal Martin said he had not heard the statement but that “hospitals are no place for protests, just no place”.
Critics of this response have of course pointed out that this is blatantly not true. Demonstrations of all kinds, whether in relation to closure of A&E departments or over pay relations demonstrations, take place outside hospitals every day.
During the same debate, an opposition TD (MP) asked if the Taoiseach had discussed in talks with Church leaders “the need to stop these intimidatory misogynistic protests”, and the need to expedite the law in Ireland, repeating the accusation that pro-lie vigils and witness are the equivalent of harassment and intimidation.
Archbishop Martin highlights that in Northern Ireland, as in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, “harassment laws are already in place to prevent intimidation”.
Previously, the Garda Commissioner, when questioned, stated that existing laws were adequate to deal with any harassment or intimidation at hospitals. When questioned directly, hospitals have also stated that they have had no issues in this area, bringing into question the necessity for the law at all beyond preventing prayerful witness.
The growing sense of censoriousness in Ireland comes as the Government has put forward a hate-speech Bill that will provide for criminalisation of speech that is subjectively perceived as being hateful, devoid of definition of what defines hate or some of the protected characteristics.
In recent days, the Irish Prime Minister has warned of a strict new social media laws being enacted imminently, causing further concern about legislating on views considered unacceptable by the government.
Archbishop Martin has warned about the narrowing of the window of acceptable speech in Ireland.
He said: “What next? How long before it is deemed unlawful to openly express the reasonable opinion that there are two lives in every pregnancy worth protecting – the life of a mother and the life of her unborn child?
‘Will those who believe that the ending of unborn life is of the utmost moral significance, and who have sincerely held beliefs that every human life is sacred from the first moment of conception, be told that they are not free to express these beliefs anywhere in a public forum?’
“The right to life is not conferred by any human law; rather, it is God’s most precious gift to us. The innocent life in the womb is not a ‘something’; it is a ‘someone’. Science confirms that it is, in reality, a little girl or boy at a very early stage in her or his life.”
With primary school teacher, Enoch Burke, now incarcerated for more than three months in Ireland under contempt for court which arose through his refusal to refer to a student as ‘they/them’, based on his religious convictions, and with no sign of him being released until the full hearing of the action brought against him by the school comes before the High Court in February, it is becoming clear that the Overton window in Ireland has considerably changed in the 21st century.
Many commentators that considered Irish society, under the influence of the Catholic Church, and a population that were considered to be the most devout in Europe along with a political class that reflected this piety, to have been a censorious and cold place for those who did not align with the establishment position, see no inconsistency with replicating using the power of the State to enforce a new secular religious orthodoxy.
Writing in the Irish Examiner, former government advisor, Fergus Finlay, wrote of religious orders: “Why do we still allow these religious orders to exist? They are nothing more than vehicles for corruption and abuse, and they need to be shut down … They should not be allowed to own property in the name of the order, nor to buy and sell property. They should never, under any circumstances, be allowed to run any entity — school, hospital, or any other institution — that is funded in whole or in part by the State.”
In the Irish Senate, Senator Sharon Koegan was accused of being bigoted for expressing the view that surrogacy was “harmful, exploitative and unethical”, “not in the best interest of the child”, and that she “should check her Christian values”.
Each day in Ireland, new examples emerge, both in official circles and on social media, of attitudes toward religion that would not be acceptable toward any other sector of society.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.