Bigots, racists and homophobes will get up to five years in jail if convicted under Ireland’s new hate laws, we can reveal.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee confirmed yesterday she will bring the legislation before the Dail within a few weeks. It comes after a spate of attacks against members of the LBGTQI community in Dublin over the summer and a growing number of other hate crimes around the country.
The new bill will create for the first time in Ireland specific hate crime offences. They will be in the guise of aggravated forms of existing criminal offences, where perpetrators are motivated by prejudice towards a “protected characteristic” such as race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origin, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity and disability.
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The Department of Justice said: “The bill proposes new offences relating to incitement to violence or hatred with penalties of up to five years imprisonment for conviction or indictment.”
Minister McEntee slammed the attacks on minority groups. She said: “I strongly condemn the actions of the small minority of people who subject others to abuse or attack resulting from their own prejudice.
“The new bill will strengthen the law around incitement to hatred or hate speech and online hateful content.”
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