Sir, – The proposal to ban the wearing of face coverings at protests where they are “intended to intimidate” is the latest example of knee-jerk policymaking that has become the hallmark of the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee (“Balaclavas to be banned when used to ‘intimidate’ under new plans”, News, August 5th).
The Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights protect the right to peaceful protest and the freedom of expression.
These rights are protected regardless of how odious or unpopular the views of those who avail of them, and they implicitly extend to the right to wear whatever you want while doing so.
If a person commits violence or a breach of the peace while protesting, then – mask or no mask – they can be moved on or arrested, making a ban on items of clothing irrelevant. But if a person protests peacefully, it is impossible to see how criminalising the wearing of particular items of clothing would not infringe on their constitutional rights.
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In 2022 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that a ban on the wearing of masks imposed by Russian president Vladimir Putin at protests against his regime was a breach of the convention if the person wearing that mask was acting peacefully.
Balaclavas have a particular connotation in Ireland, given their use by the IRA and other groups.
Wouldn’t it be extraordinary for a country that endured decades of terrorist violence without resorting to banning balaclavas to suddenly ban them after a few months of ugly protests?
The last legislative attempt to prohibit an item of clothing was the Wearing of Uniform (Restriction) Bill 1934, through which a Fianna Fáil government sought to ban the wearing of the Blueshirt uniform. This proposal ultimately crashed on the rocks after interventions by the Free State Senate and the Supreme Court.
Ninety years later, it is a grim irony that a Fine Gael Minister for Justice could propose an equally pointless, unenforceable and likely unconstitutional law that would only serve to expose the gardaí and the courts to ridicule. – Yours etc,
BARRY WALSH,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3.
Sir, – The Minister for Justice’s proposed balaclava ban at demonstrations smacks of another knee-jerk reaction to a worsening situation as regards public order. It seems to have escaped Helen McEntee’s attention that most of those wearing balaclavas (bar actual far-right organisers) at riot situations are under 18, which means they are both difficult to apprehend with the current softly, softly policing model and unlikely to face prison time if brought before the courts.
On the general problem of youth crime and increasing antisocial behaviour, a twin-track approach is called for, namely increased funding for youth services (especially in deprived areas such as Ballyfermot, Coolock and Darndale) as well as a reopening of a young offenders prison for serious criminal convictions.
Oberstown Children Detention Campus in Lusk, Co Dublin is catering for a mix of persistent offenders and convicted murderers on foot of the State closing down St Patrick’s Institution in 2017.
Given that the State is awash with money, is it not time to try a Norwegian model approach to the more serious criminal element of our troubled and troublesome youth so as to avert them from clogging up our adult prisons? – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL FLYNN,
Bayside,
Dublin 13.