The Taoiseach has defended his decision not to hold a referendum on blasphemy this year.
Enda Kenny says the only referendums this year will be those on lowering the age to run for President and on marriage rights for same-sex couples, both of which will be held in May.
Speaking during Leaders’ Questions today Mr Kenny said people “may well switch off” if they are faced with too many referendums at one time.
Mr Kenny says he accepts the idea of holding a referendum, to remove the issue from the constitution, but it won't take place before the next election.
“That referendum will not be held this year,” he said.
“What we did say was that, in considering the recommendations of the constitutional convention, if the government accepted them they would say so without indicating a timeline. Two referenda will be held this year and there won’t be any further referendum held.
“I find from talking to people that really if you try to do that people may well switch off by saying, ‘I don’t understand this, I need to have more time to have it explained to me, why you holding all these?’ People generally may not be all that interested in referenda,” he added.
Adding to public debate in the last week, statements were made in the Dáil in response to last week's events in Paris, with calls for the referendum to be brought forward.
In the wake of the attacks Ireland’s blasphemy law was brought into focus as it was cited as a potential legal impediment to Irish media outlets publishing material deemed blasphemous, such as the cartoons published by Charlie Hebdo. Several Irish media outlets, including Newstalk.com, published the cover of this week's Charlie Hebdo, which depicts the prophet Mohammed.
The publishing of the cover was criticised by Sheikh Hussein Halawa, Chairman of the Irish Council of Imams, who cited Irish law as a protection for religious beliefs and values.
"We would like to state that while we respect the right for freedom of expression, we nevertheless, believe that other people’s beliefs and values should also be respected; a value which is protected by Irish law," Mr Halawa said yesterday.
"We would like to state that we highly respect Irish values and we appeal to all the people of Ireland to stand for protection and respect for all religious values and the concept of pluralism."
"We do not accept violence as a way to deal with issues and at the same time we do not accept offences," he added.
Currently, the relevant article in the Constitution makes “the publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious or indecent matter” an offence punishable by law with a fine of up to €25,000.
