Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-02
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Michael McDowell (IND), National University of Ireland

I was listening to the discussion on this amendment and I must say that there was an air of unreality to it in my view. Yes, Muslim women who wear particular face coverings are one category of society. So too, though, are people who congregate outside a Muslim person’s house wearing face coverings in a manner threatening to that Muslim family. One only has to look, and this is what struck me, to what the Ku Klux Klan did in America. I do not think they were concerned about their health, their religious beliefs or any of those things. They wear those face coverings solely to intimidate and to frighten people who they intend to exclude or whose rights they intend to trample on.
The point I would make in favour of this amendment is, first, that a direction by a member of An Garda Síochána must be based on reasonable cause. In the absence of reasonable cause, any prosecution will fail. Second, we are faced with a situation where a person wearing the face covering should not have lawful authority for doing so or a reasonable excuse for doing so. Those are two things that I think will be very protective of people who want to simply remain anonymous on some occasion.
There is a fine line between 50 residents of Ranelagh standing outside a black person’s house with face coverings, on the one hand, and a mixed group of people standing outside a large employer’s premises protesting about something the large employer is supposed to have done, and seeking to remain anonymous. There is a fine line between the two situations. There is also the ingredient that there must also be a reasonable apprehension that the purpose of this behaviour is going to prejudice the safety of persons or the safety of property or the maintenance of public peace. I am on the Minister’s side in relation to this matter. I do not think that anybody who has religious or health grounds has anything to worry about in relation to this matter. I do not think that people who want to maintain their anonymity and who are otherwise not behaving in a manner that is threatening the safety of others or the safety of property or the maintenance of public peace will have their rights intruded on either.
Although I presume that a garda can arrest somebody who does not comply with the direction, I do not know what happens when you arrive in the police station wearing your Ku Klux Klan hat, or hood, but there would have to be a removal of it at some stage to identify the person. I think that this measure is reasonable. I strongly think that people are missing the point, which is that if you are on the receiving end of mob violence or the threat of mob violence or intimidation from continuing to occupy your home or your residence by effectively a mass picket outside your house, as happened in Belfast, one of the things the Garda should be in a position to do is to be able to deal with people who do not appear to have a lawful excuse or reason for wearing face coverings and are behaving in a manner which gives rise to a reasonable apprehension for the safety of other persons. The gardaí should not simply be required to stand there, watch all these people and do nothing about it and not interfere in any way. That is my view about the matter.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:09+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02