‘Safe zones’ and the right to protest

A chara, – The call from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission for prison sentences of two years for those participating in peaceful protests and prayer vigils outside abortion facilities is surely way over the top (“Anti-abortion protesters outside medical facilities should face prison sentences, rights watchdog says”, News, October 6th).

There are countries in the world today rightly being pilloried for denying human rights and freedom of expression to groups within their societies who do not agree with the perceived consensus.

One-third of the Irish people do not agree with abortion and have a right to express their views peacefully.

One wonders if the Government’s efforts to push through legislation for so-called “safe access zones”, against the advice of the Garda Commissioner, are simply designed to silence a cohort of society who are simply pointing out unpalatable truths inconvenient to their worldview. – Yours, etc,