It's been confirmed that a Gardai investigation for blasphemy has been opened relating to comments made by Stephen Fry in a 2015 interview with Gay Byrne.

The Irish Independent reports that a member of the public made the allegation at Ennis Garda Station following the broadcast. Gardai in Donnybrook - where RTE is headquartered - then contacted the complainant a source revealed that an investigation into the interview is now under way.

The person who made the report at Ennis Garda Station explained to the Irish Independent that "(he) told the Garda I wanted to report Fry for uttering blasphemy and RTE for publishing/broadcasting it and that (he) believed these were criminal offences under the Defamation Act 2009." The person, however, said that he was not personally offended by the comments, but that he "simply believed that the comments made by Fry on RTÉ were criminal blasphemy and that I was doing my civic duty by reporting a crime."

Here's Stephen Fry's comments that started the investigation.

Ireland's blasphemy laws, however, are largely unenforceable.

Under the Defamation Act of 2009, a person can be fined up to €25,000 per offense for making blasphemous comments. However, the Act also states that " it shall be a defence to proceedings for an offence under this section for the defendant to prove that a reasonable person would find genuine literary, artistic, political, scientific, or academic value in the matter to which the offence relates."

The Irish Independent's source also stated that it was "highly unlikely" that a prosecution would take place, but confirmed that the investigation was underway and that a file would eventually be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

 

Via Independent.ieÂ