Irish Freedom Party's
Free Speech Policies:

 

We are deeply concerned about the increasing intolerance of diverse viewpoints in Irish public life. Unfortunately, citizens holding a traditional, patriotic or religious outlook are often bullied and marginalised, stifling the open debate upon which a free and democratic society depends. In a democracy, alternative points of view must be respected. We are against the use of ‘political correctness’ to bully and censor people. We are against the spread of political censorship by the 25 State, mainstream media and corporations such as Google, YouTube, Facebook or Twitter. We are against the introduction of so called ‘hate speech’ laws to silence genuine and important political debate about topics that politicians and interest groups may find ‘sensitive’. We believe that it is essential that a free and democratic society must hear different opinions sincerely held and respectfully presented. We are totally committed to the values of freedom of thought and speech which lie at the heart of democracy.

 

 

Fighting “Wokery” Family law, Parental Alienation and Men's issues:

 

▪ The operation of the family law courts in-camera is a source of great disquiet in regard to the proper administration of justice. We will promote a system of reporting similar to the Child Care Law Reporting Project to all aspects of the family courts system.

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▪ Parental Alienation is a worrying and widely recorded phenomenon. Considerable anecdotal evidence exists of the undermining of the legitimate parental rights of fathers and we will seek to restore any imbalance that has come to exist in regard to ensuring access for fathers to their children. We will ensure that full reporting is made publicly available of the decisions of courts, with the names of the parties protected, and provide for the development of legislation on the basis of these decisions.

 

▪ While recognising that quotas may have provided a useful function in the past, the party now believes that these should be phased out and will do so across the entirety of the public sector. We will prohibit unjust discrimination against men in the workplace particularly in regard to discrimination against men on the basis of gender quotas. All posts must be filled on the basis of professional merit alone. This will apply in both the public and private sectors.

 

▪ We will prohibit behaviour, speech, and/or dress codes in the private corporate sector that result in sex or political discrimination in the workplace. We will prohibit involvement of employers in the private lives or affairs of its employees and prohibit employment contracts allowing employers to sanction employees based on matters not strictly related to their employment.

 

▪ Race Issues: We hold that all posts must be filled according to merit of the individual and will prohibit the use of race-based quotas for employment or for representative bodies in both the public and private sectors.

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Womens’ Sport and Spaces:

 

▪ Fine Gael's 'Gender Recognition Act, 2015', obliges the Irish Prison Service to put male sex offenders who "identify" as female, into women's prisons, where vast sums of public money and huge logistical efforts have to be deployed, to stop them attacking the female inmates.

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▪ The Irish Freedom Party will introduce policies to protect women’s sport and women’s spaces. ... for instance that only women are allowed to be in women’s toilet facilities, women’s prisons and be allowed to compete in a female only category of sport with a level playing field.

 

Overcoming political correctness with free speech and factual correctness:

 

Universities which were once the foundation of free debate and open discussion must not fall prey to political, religious or social intolerance. Universities must guarantee freedom of speech and freedom of religion for all of its students.

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▪ We will defund any universities which smother these civil liberties. All universities will be required to publish a mandate ensuring freedom of speech and religious action to their students. Any evidence of discrimination in terms of marking of student submissions based on their political beliefs will be strictly prohibited.

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The party regards the development of "cancel culture" as being one of the most pernicious aspects of the modern age and a serious threat to societal stability. While recognising that much of the pressure in regard to prohibiting minority viewpoints emanates from the corporate sector, the party will, if elected seek for the state to set an example by prohibiting unjust discrimination in employment, education and healthcare. While recognising that social and political intolerance has become a widespread phenomenon the party will, by process of encouragement seek to ensure free speech and freedom of action for all members of society.

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▪ We are keenly aware that state-funded media, and in particular RTE has been guilty of a very strong level of partisanship in regard to representation of matters of politics of race. This is an extremely complex matter to deal with but again in the first instance, state-funded broadcasters must ensure a proper level of balance. We will establish an all-party working group, with representations from civic and religious groups, to assess the performance of the state-funded broadcaster. This will have the right to ensure speedy correction of misplaced or unbiased reporting. It is essential that individuals and groups which have been traduced by RTE should have a speedy 27 process whereby their names and reputations can be protected without the requirement for a lengthy court process. The Press Council of Ireland is too top heavy with establishment figures who follow the dominant political agenda.

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▪ The party will withdraw advertising from any publication which is consistently seen to be involved in the unbalanced reporting and which does not give opportunity for redress to injured parties.

 

The Irish Freedom Party believe in the importance of freedom of speech. It is essential in any liberal society in the pursuit of truth and solving the most pressing problems in society. Historically, freedom of speech has been the main tool in correcting historic injustices such as slavery, colonialism and institutional abuse. If elected, our candidates will oppose any attempts to dilute your freedom to express your opinions and convictions.

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▪ We support revocation of all laws which limit freedom of speech.

 

The Party will investigate whether a referendum to the Constitution enshrining freedom of speech as an inalienable right is necessary and whether it is necessary to delete the potential apparent restrictions on speech that exist in the constitution at present.

 

Hate crime laws would mean a two tier legal system and undermine the principle of equality before the law. For example, crimes against ordinary members of the public would be treated less serious than crimes against members of a minority group were hate is perceived to be the motivating factor.