Popular actor, presenter and writer Stephen Fry could be facing a €25,000 fine for his ‘blasphemous’ comments made on RTÉ’s ‘The Meaning of Life’ in February 2015.
Hosted by Gay Byrne, Fry asked why he should “respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid god who creates a world…. full of injustice and pain”.
“The god who created this universe, if it was created by god, is quite clearly a maniac, an utter maniac, totally selfish.
“We have to spend our lives on our knees thanking him. What kind of god would do that?#8221;
“He’s monstrous, utterly monstrous and deserves no respect whatsoever.”
According to Independent.ie, a member of the public complained that Fry’s remarks breached the Defamation Act 2009 to gardaí in Ennis. Gardaí in Dublin recently contacted the man who filed the complaint, with a full investigation now due to be conducted.
The Defamation Act 2009 prohibits people from saying or publishing “matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion” and that those who utter blasphemous material “shall be guilty of an offence”. €25,000 is the maximum fine.
The man followed up his complaint a year later and wrote to Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan in 2016 to see if they had investigated the comments made by Fry. He said that although he was not personally offended by Fry’s comments, he felt he was “doing [his] civic duty by reporting a crime”.
Although Fry has made no public statements as of yet, while talking to the BBC in 2015, he said he was “absolutely astonished” by people’s reactions to his comments on social media.
“I don’t think I mentioned once any particular religion and I certainly didn’t intend, and in fact I know I didn’t say anything offensive towards any particular religion.”
Athiest Ireland have welcomed an investigation into Fry’s comments as “it highlights a law that is silly, silencing, and dangerous.”
“It is a silly law because it suggests that the creator of the universe needs the Oireachtas to protect its feelings.
“It is a silencing law because many Irish media outlets are self-censoring themselves to avoid the possibility of being prosecuted.”
People have taken to Twitter to state their opinion on the matter, with the majority of people arguing that the law itself is “ridiculous”.