Ireland Will Have Vote On Removing Blasphemy From Constitution

Last year, Ireland's Convention on the Constitution recommended that a referendum be held on whether to replace the current constitutional provision on blasphemy with a general provision banning incitement to religious hatred. (See prior posting.)  Yesterday, according to The Journal, the government announced that it accepted the recommendation that the people vote on whether to remove the offense of blasphemy from the Constitution. A government spokesman said that it is still an open question whether the proposed constitutional amendment will also call for replacing the ban on blasphemy with a prohibition on incitement to religious hatred. A date has not been set for the referendum.  It will apparently require a law be enacted by the Oireachtas.