The Government’s plan to ban facemasks at protests is a “modest enough proposal” aimed at preventing intimidation on the streets and at people’s homes and workplaces, the Tánaiste has insisted.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee is currently drafting legislation for the ban and has said she plans to move forward with it “as soon as possible”.
She noted that there is still “no specific timeline” regarding when the legislation will come before the Dáil.
It comes in the wake of several violent protests that saw many demonstrators covering their faces with balaclavas and masks.
After the Dublin Riots, Minister McEntee published legislation aimed at allowing Gardaí to use facial recognition technology to trawl through CCTV footage when investigating riots and civil unrest.
She now hopes to ensure that demonstrator’s faces will be visible by introducing a facemask ban.
“I think it's fair enough”
The Tánaiste says the plan to ban facemasks at protests is a “modest enough proposal” aimed at preventing intimidation.
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) September 18, 2024
Speaking on his way into Cabinet this morning, the Tánaiste Micheál Martin said the planned ban is a “modest enough proposal”.
“I think it's fair enough,” he said. “It’s something I would be in favour of.
“I think it's a modest enough proposal and I think in the context of some activities that we've witnessed in recent times, clearly the utilization of masks has been not for a good reason but rather for malign reasons.
“So I think it's a good initiative.
“We have to do everything we possibly can to support freedom of protest and the right to protest, but not to facilitate any forms of intimidation outside people's homes or indeed on the streets or indeed where people go to work.”
It is understood the ban will apply in circumstances where the wearing of a mask is “intended to intimidate”.
Minister McEntee is working with the Garda Commissioner and the Attorney General in drafting the legislation.
With reporting from Stephanie Rohan at Government Buildings.
