A lifetime ago – back in the Spring of this year – Ireland was taking almost unfathomable steps as a “free” country to bind itself with tyrannical restrictions. I posted about the unbelievable measures the Irish Oireachtas Éireann, or their bicameral parliament, was debating about enacting to restrict the Irish people’s free speech rights in the name of protecting a ginormous victim-class from “hate speech.”

And it wasn’t just to be something someone deemed offensive that came out of your mouth in public, or off your fingertips in a social media post. Oh, no. They were going to grant themselves the intrusive power of the Spanish Inquisition to hunt down anything in your possession that might be classified as “hateful” by someone, and body slam you legally for it.

…Fabulous. It sure seems like the Protected Class Train’s leaving Victimhood Station, so you might want to jump on board before the conductor slams the doors shut – get your dibs in now.

Well, that sounds like a pretty sticky wicket already, doesn’t it? Who’s going to be left “unprotected”?

I mean, what exactly are they talking about here?

Maybe I don’t want to know…prosecuting individuals for possession of “hateful materials” even if they haven’t or have no intention of disseminating it?

Literally, they intend to codify jail for a meme someone – anyone from the 9 officially protected victim classes, or the Gardaí if they choose to interpret it as such – finds offensive when they search your phone. And they WILL have the authority to search when, where and what they choose of yours.

Language being proposed as law in Ireland means this could literally happen to you for having a meme on your phone https://t.co/qz9sKyjw62

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 27, 2023

Cooler heads have not prevailed over the intervening months, and the…well, I can’t call it debate. The emotional bludgeoning has continued. The virtuoso virtue signaling intends to elevate victimhood and grievance culture into statutable fact vice subjective temper tantrums to ignore or indulge.

During debates, some truly terrifying words flowed from a progressive Irish Karen that should chill every freedom loving soul to the bone. Her noxious speech pretty well summed up the nascent justification of every fascist government edict ever.

“…All legislation is about the restriction of freedom. That’s exactly what we’re doing here. We are restricting freedom, but we’re doing it for the common good…”

"We are restricting freedom for the common good": Irish Green Party Senator Pauline O'Reilly says that her government's hate speech bill is about "restricting freedom," and censoring views on gender identity if those views create "discomfort."#gript pic.twitter.com/H7QIT0QHmf

— gript (@griptmedia) June 15, 2023

With the Irish harp emblazoned on all the chairs behind her. Not a good juxtaposition.

And “the common good”? What does that mean, exactly, in this instance? Who then becomes “bad” and who determines that?

The hate speech laws as they were introduced this spring were still under discussion, mostly because they were proving hugely unpopular (imagine that) with the Irish people themselves. The proposed legislation became even more despised as time passed and information leaked out about how these draconian restrictions were going to be enforced and, even worse, interpreted before being enforced.

They were, in point of fact, written to be thought crimes – reported and punished as such, for all that proponents insisted constitutionally “protected” free speech was still “protected.”

…The Irish public television, RTE, conducted a poll which found that only 19% of the Irish public were in support of the new laws.

The Irish police force have stated that their current approach to defining hate crimes relies on the McPherson ‘perception-based test’. Under this framework, if a victim or witness perceives that an incident was motivated by prejudice related to one of the nine protected characteristics, it is categorized as such.

However, opponents of the bill express concerns that the lack of a clear definition for the term “incitement” might result in an excessive response.

Free Speech Ireland voiced significant apprehension about the expanded powers that law enforcement might obtain through this legislation.

“Perception” is everything, no? And if you’re on the receiving end of an accusation based on aggrieved “perception,” you’re toast, because no one is asking for your side of the story. That’s how the new legislation works.

How ’bout them apples?

Last week, in the midst of building backlash and protests over the laws’ restrictions and the arrogance of the immigration policy of the Irish government in general, an Algerian immigrant who’d been in Ireland some 20 years – and a citizen for 10 – saw fit to take a knife to three small children and a teacher standing in front of a Catholic school.

…A FIVE-YEAR-old girl who was seriously injured in a stabbing incident near a school in Dublin city centre yesterday afternoon is in a critical condition in hospital.

Gardaí said they are continuing to investigate all of the circumstances of the incident, which occurred near Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire on Parnell Square shortly after 1.30pm yesterday afternoon.

Despite the best efforts of police, media, and the government to keep the perp’s identity under wraps, it was known pretty quickly, and a full scale blowout erupted that evening.

The Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar couldn’t wait to hot-foot himself in front of cameras – not to condemn the violent attack on the children, but only the “right-wing” “hooligans” who took to the streets that night. He also wasted no time using the general unrest to announce he would be instituting NEW hate speech/hate crime laws in the face of the anti-immigration tenor of the demonstrations.

…Varadkar announced that the government would pass two significant pieces of legislation in the coming weeks. One would grant police the authority to use facial recognition technology to identify individuals involved in the Thursday night riots as captured by surveillance cameras on various vehicles and shops. The other would provide law enforcement with new tools to prosecute individuals promoting hate speech online.

Conor McGregor, world champion MMA fighter and Irish firebrand, came unglued at the prime minister exploiting tragedy to implement draconian repression, and let loose with a series of epic broadsides on X.

Former UFC champion Conor McGregor voiced his displeasure with Irish law enforcement and others in leadership positions for their handling of the recent stabbing incident in Dublin.

McGregor argued that his home country is in danger due to the crime and that officials have not properly worked to remedy it. McGregor was born in Ireland.

…”There is grave danger among us in Ireland that should never be here in the first place, and there has been zero action done to support the public in any way, shape or form with this frightening fact. NOT GOOD ENOUGH,” McGregor posted on X, the company formerly known as Twitter.

You know what those expressed sentiments got McGregor in response?

!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 26, 2023

I guess you could call it a “police response.”

What’s not getting much play in Ireland are the facts about the perpetrator of the stabbings. Yes, he was an Algerian immigrant. Yes, he had problems apparently maintaining a steady address. And yes – surprise – he was “known to the Gardaí,” and it wasn’t for parking tickets or his naturally cheery nature.

The chief suspect in the multiple stabbing that left a five-year-old girl fighting for her life was arrested earlier this year for possession of a knife, the Irish Daily Mail has learned.

The man, originally from Algeria, has been living in Ireland for the past two decades. He took Irish citizenship more than a decade ago.

The man, who is in his late 40s, has come to Garda attention several times in the past year.

The latest incident involved possession of a knife, as well as criminal damage to a car in May.

He was taken to court on the charges but did not receive a conviction. The Mail understands he was not convicted due to a mental health report given to the court.

…One source said: ‘This man came to Ireland in around 2003. In recent times, he’s come to the attention of the gardaí. This was over having a knife on him and him causing damage to a car.

He was also supposed to have been deported in 2008, but those dang bleeding heart activists worked hard to keep him in the country – probably because they are never the ones who wind up bleeding later on.

The Algerian immigrant in Dublin accused of carrying out a mass stabbing attack on children had been arrested this year on suspicion of possessing a knife but wasn’t convicted. He was previously supposed to be deported but was aided by activists. https://t.co/hUi2NNqkNf

— Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) November 27, 2023

What this boils down to is that an immigrant – who should have been gone from the country 15 years ago, and is the living embodiment of every single thing the East Wall marchers and the Thursday night rioters have been protesting against – could well be the instrument of the Irish losing what little freedoms they have left.

That is some epic level unbelievable. But, then again, we see it here every mass shooting.

FOR THE COMMON GOOD – FOR THE PUBLIC HEALTH – FOR THE CHILDREN

Scary af but at least we still have a constitution to cling to.

Barely.

Wake up, guys.