Author: Eoin

Dr Eoin O'Dell is a Fellow and Associate Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin.

We, the People

| 1 Comment
| Politics

On the ‘This Week‘ show, on RTE Radio 1 this afternoon, Pat Rabbittee (Leader of Ireland’s Labour Party) artfully danced around presenter Gerald Barry’s questioning about whether Labour will go into coalition with Fianna Fáil after the next general election, expected in early summer. Rabbittee: ‘it won’t arise’; Barry: ‘but if it does?’; Rabbitte: ‘I want Fianna Fáil out’; Barry: ‘but what if?’. And so it goes; and so it went (the full interview is here).

Whatever about Rabbitte’s position now, in my view, if the numbers after the next election are such that the only possible government is a coalition of Fianna Fáil and Labour, then, after the election and the weeks of horsetrading that generate that potential coalition and its programme for goverment, there must be another election, to allow us, the people, to give our imprimatur (or not) to it. …

Read More »

Don’t say it ain’t so

| 4 Comments
| Freedom of Expression

The Irish Times today carries a report by Jamie Smyth that Germany has proposed an EU ban on holocaust denial and – perhaps – the dissemination of xenophobic statements that could incite violence or hatred. Germany, in common with several other EU states, including France, Belgium and Austria (as David Irving found out), has holocaust denial legislation on its statute books, and legislation against incitement to racial hatred is to be found in countries like Ireland and the UK.

We have been here before (Smyth says that an earlier attempt by Germany in 2004 to get this type of law passed by the Council of Ministers foundered), and this initiative may similarly come to naught. It should. …

Read More »

Speech Skirmishes

| 1 Comment
| Media and Communications

Today’s papers carry two stories with interesting freedom of expression angles. Both cases are in their initial stages, with more to come: one returns to the High Court today and the other to the Circuit Criminal Court on Monday week. It would not be much of an exaggeration to say that they have to capacity to test the health of freedom of expression and media rights in Ireland today, and it will be interesting to see how they develop.

These two skirmishes presage potential speech battles ahead.…

Read More »

Young Scientists and Visual Identification Evidence

| No Comments
| Irish Society

I am, alas, neither young nor a scientist, but someone in the family is both, and we spent this evening at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition at the RDS. Running since 1965, the exhibition is an annual competition for encouraging interest in science in Irish schools. This year’s exhibtion appealed hugely to the geek in me, as it always does. Media reports have focussed on the bebo projects featured in the photos, but there was far more to it than that: 500 competitors and whole host of supporting exhibitors, serving up a veritable feast for the eyes and mind.

I particuarly enjoyed a student web-radio station, a plagiarism detection tool, and two visual identification projects. …

Read More »

Who Pays the Broadcasting Bill?

| No Comments
| Media and Communications

The progress of the Broadcasting Bill, 2006 through the Houses of the Oireachtas (the houses of the Irish Parliament) is interesting for all sorts of reasons. It has – appropriately – been a guinea pig for several eGovernment initiatives, including an electronic consultation which drew more than 500 responses, and today’s hearings of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources relating to the Bill are being webcast.

Unsurprisingly, then, there is much media interest in today’s hearings. …

Read More »

So, farewell then, Norman French

| 3 Comments
| Irish Law

The Taoiseach yesterday launched the Statute Law Revision Bill, 2007 in a speech in the beautiful surroundings of St Werburgh’s Church, Dublin 8, described by the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland as “a wonderful example of an early Georgian auditory church”. It was chosen by the Taoiseach for the announcement because, he said, it “is so closely connected with many of the historical events which led to … or arose from … the old laws we are now repealing”, though the fact that it made for a pretty photo-op can’t have hurt either.

There is much to be said in favour of this development, but the case must not be overstated. …

Read More »

The Shape of Things to Come?

| No Comments
| Universities

Hot on the heels of last week’s reports that Irish university heads are seeking pay increases of up to 55%, today’s New York Times reports that At Universities, Plum Post at Top Is Now Shaky. Many of the reforms undertaken in the Irish university sector have been controversial, but we have not yet reached the situation in the NYT report, where several university heads have been ousted. Is this the shape of things to come, if not in Ireland where the sector seems to be coming to terms with the reforms, then perhaps in England: in Oxford, just before Christmas, similar reform plans were defeated, though the Vice Chancellor remains in place, at least for now.…

Read More »

© cearta.ie 2025. Powered by WordPress