The Killarney District Court has dismissed charges under the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 (Act) against a 27-year old Kerry man for comments made on Facebook about Travellers. Patrick Kissane had admitted creating a Facebook page called "Promote the use of knacker babies as shark bait" in 2009.
The case was the first prosecution dealing with online material under the Act. Two members of the Traveller community from Killarney, who had made a formal complaint to Gardaí about the Facebook page, told the Court that the defendant's Facebook page and comments made them feel frightened for themselves. However, Judge James O'Connor ruled there was a reasonable doubt that there was an intent to incite hatred towards members of the Traveller community.
The Irish Traveller Movement and its Law Centre have been closely monitoring the case. The Law Centre's Managing Solicitor Siobhan Cummiskey was present in court and said afterwards, "Hate speech is used to intimidate and degrade vulnerable communities and to inflame prejudices against them and historically it has been shown to be dangerously effective in doing so. The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act is an under-utilised piece of legislation riddled with major weaknesses - many of which have been borne out in this failed prosecution. We call on the Minister for Justice to make reform of the law relating to incitement to hatred against Travellers and other vulnerable communities a priority. Any new legislation must also specifically address the internet as the most common medium for hate speech in light of the EU Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law".
Click here to view a press release from the Irish Traveller Movement on the case.
Click here to read a 2008 report by Jennifer Schweppe and Dermot Walsh at the University of Limerick's Centre for Criminal Justice - Combating Racism and Xenophobia through the Criminal Law - which includes analysis of the Act and related legislation.
Meanwhile on 4 October, the Immigrant Council of Ireland launched a research report, Taking Racism Seriously. The report includes a recommendation that the government introduce guidelines covering the sentencing of racially motivated crimes. Click here to read the report.