ECRI calls on Ireland to introduce hate speech laws

The European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) urged Ireland to prioritize hate speech legislation in its sixth monitoring report, released October 28. The 44-page document asserts that hate speech “remains widespread.”

ECRI demanded criminal law clearly define and punish “incitement to hatred, violence or discrimination.”

It insisted public figures, including politicians and leaders, “take a prompt, firm and public stance against the expression of racist and LGBTI-phobic hate speech” with counter-speech and solidarity. All parties should sign the Charter of European Political Parties for a Non-Racist and Inclusive Society per Resolution 2443 (2022).

Hate speech “spans across news media, online platforms, and politics,” driven by “anti-migrant, anti-Black/African, anti-refugee/asylum-seeker sentiments.”

Among other items, the ECRI recommends that Ireland urgently honor its stalled commitment to introduce self-declaration gender recognition for 16–17-year-olds and extend it to younger children, citing low certificate numbers and aligning with 2023 UN child-rights guidance.

It also urges Gardaí to actively recruit more officers from minority or immigrant backgrounds, publish diversity data on hiring and promotion, and expand anti-racism training for all police on dealing with Travellers, Roma, migrants, and other vulnerable groups.

ECRI was created at the 1993 Vienna Summit of the Council of Europe, when 32 European leaders — alarmed by rising neo-Nazi attacks, antisemitism, and ethnic violence after the Cold War — agreed to set up an independent body of experts to monitor and combat racism across the continent. Proposed by Secretary General Catherine Lalumière in 1992 expert reports, ECRI began work in 1994 as a standing watchdog with no legal powers but strong moral authority to name, shame, and guide policy.