Iranian will be butchered if he returns - Norris

David Norris: "Where is the accountability" on deportation?

SEANAD REPORT: DAVID NORRIS (Ind) called for the reversing of a deportation order against a young Iranian man who, he said, would be butchered on return to his homeland.

This individual had left Iran, having been investigated and having openly acknowledged a sexual relationship with his male partner, he said

"He has been served with a deportation order. What kind of people are running these services? Are they unaware, uniquely, because everybody else in Ireland knows, this man will be butchered, as was confirmed by the deputy Iranian foreign minister . . . last week.

"He said 'well, we are not going to do it from a crane on the back of a lorry, but we're still going to do it'. What are we doing? Where is the accountability? I demand in the name of the Oireachtas that the practice of deporting someone in that condition should be ceased immediately."

The fact that pubs and nightclubs provided a controlled and safe environment for socialising and drinking was often overlooked, Fine Gael spokesman on justice Eugene Regan said in the debate on the Intoxicating Liquor Bill. "Restricting the supply of alcohol to mature adults does not necessarily reduce demand.

"The 'Big Brother' approach does not work. Restricting closing times . . . merely induces over-drinking before or at closing times."

The main objective of the Bill was to deal with the issue of public order offences associated with late-night pubs and nightclubs. "However, it makes matters worse in that regard, because we know that common closing times, at which many people exit premises at the same time, result in problems.

"We are harmonising closing times for every premises, and that is where this legislation is fundamentally flawed. For this reason, in particular, it is unfortunate that the Government did not allow proper time for debate on this Bill."

Initiating the second-stage debate, Minister of State Conor Lenihan said it was intended to tackle public disorder and health-related harm resulting from excessive alcohol consumption.

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times