People who wear balaclavas with the intent of intimidation at protests will not be allowed to avail of any “loopholes” under a proposed ban on facial coverings, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said.
Under new proposals, the wearing of face coverings – including balaclavas – at protests will be banned where it can be shown that the person intends to threaten or intimidate others.
It comes amid multiple incidences of masked protesters taking part in disturbances including at the homes of senior politicians.
Ms McEntee was asked about potential loopholes where a person could, for example, claim they were wearing a mask because they were unwell or were protecting themselves from cold weather.
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She said where somebody was cycling to work on a cold, frosty morning, it would be clear that they are not intending to intimidate anyone.
“I think every situation, every individual and their actions will have to be taken into consideration the same way as would be for any charge that’s brought or any prosecution that’s brought by the gardaí to the DPP. This would be no different. I would absolutely intend that no person would be able to use a loophole to try and evade justice in this legislation.”
She said it is the case that a garda can direct a person to remove a face covering or a balaclava “but as we’ve seen in particular instances, at that stage the damage is almost done or already done. The harassment has already taken place.
“So it’s really important that we make it very clear at the outset that this type of behaviour or activity is not acceptable and that we make it a criminal offence. Because clearly, referring to what I said earlier, any person standing outside another person’s home with banners with intimidatory language, wearing a balaclava, means nothing more than to intimidate and that shouldn’t be allowed in our society.
“So we need to stop this before this behaviour escalates and that’s why we need to ban it outright and make sure that these behaviours aren’t allowed in the first instance.”
Meanwhile Taoiseach Simon Harris has said it is “utterly unacceptable that any platform, any media platform – digital, online print – would allow a threat towards anybody remain up for a significant period of time.”
He was speaking after gardaí confirmed they are investigating threats made Mr Harris and his family on social media at the weekend. The post containing the threat was on a public Instagram account for several days.
The Taoiseach said a forthcoming code of practice for online media platforms will contain financial sanctions if certain rules of conduct are not abided by, while sanctions could also be directed at senior individuals in those companies.
“I am saying within that code, there will be very clear rules that the companies need to abide by and if they don’t there is an ability for those companies to be fined. And the code is also considering the liability that can be attached to individuals within those companies as well, which again, shouldn’t be a radical concept.”
Earlier, Ms McEntee said it is “not good enough” that “something clearly a threat” was not taken down for two days from a social media platform.
Ms McEntee told Newstalk Breakfast that a threat, whether it was online or in person, was illegal and should have been taken down immediately.
There is ongoing engagement between the gardaí and social media companies, she said. The new online safety commission Coimisiún na Meán would also be involved and would have the “teeth” to ensure that social media companies were forced to comply to act immediately, the Minister added.
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