AN IRISH HUMAN rights group has contacted Dublin City Council to ask why it refused permission for posters advertising an anti-Trump protest to be erected in the capital.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) remarked that the posters which were banned were “directly connected to a significant and imminent public demonstration concerning matters of public and political interest”.
Trump visit
US President Donald Trump is due to arrive in Ireland on Saturday for a two-day visit that will see him meet with President Catherine Connolly and Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
He will then attend the Irish Open at his golf resort in Doonbeg, Co Clare.
A protest against Trump’s visit is set to take place at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin at 1pm on Saturday.
The Irish Neutrality League (INL), the main organisers of the demonstration, applied to the council to erect posters advertising it.
The INL said it was “very disappointing” that two poster designs for the demonstration featuring Trump’s image were rejected, while a third that does not feature Trump’s image was accepted.
The INL submitted an initial poster to the council which displayed Trump’s image in a red circle with a line through it and “No welcome for Trump” encircling it.
The words “climate denier”, “racist”, “genocide complicit”, “warmonger” and “Epstein class” were also displayed on the poster, which was refused.
The posters that were rejected by Dublin City Council. Irish Neutrality League
Irish Neutrality League
A second design was then submitted with those adjectives removed, but this was also refused.
A poster with the slogan “No to wars and militarism, yes to Irish neutrality” and without any image of Trump was accepted.
Dublin City Council can refuse permission for or remove posters “that are not in accordance with the permission granted or that we deem to be vulgar or offensive”.
‘Right to freedom of expression’
In a letter posted today to Dublin City Council’s chief executive Richard Shakespeare, the ICCL asked why permission was refused for the poster featuring Trump’s image.
The poster that was accepted. Irish Neutrality League
Irish Neutrality League
The ICCL said in the letter that the right to freedom of expression is provided for in the Irish Constitution, as well as the European Convention of Human Rights.
“Freedom of political debate lies at the very core of the concept of a democratic society, while the right to freedom of expression includes political expression,” said the ICCL.
While it acknowledges that the right to freedom of expression is “not an absolute right” and may be “subject to lawful and proportionate restrictions”, it added that “any such restriction must be demonstrably justified”.
It noted that the Council can refuse permission for the erection of posters or notices which it deems to be “vulgar or offensive”.
The ICCL noted that the European Court on Human Rights previously held that the right to freedom of expression also safeguards information or ideas that “offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population”.
The ICCL said this means that every condition or restriction imposed “must be proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued”.
It went on to question the “legal basis” on which the Council refused permission for the posters featuring Trump’s image, as well as the “procedures or policies” followed before reaching this decision.
“Did DCC consider the freedom of expression rights of the applicants and, specifically, their right to engage in political expression?” asked the ICCL.
It also questioned the “aims” which were identified as the basis for the initial refusal and the reasoning used for determining that such a refusal was “necessary and proportionate”.
It also questioned the distinction between the poster with Trump’s image and the poster without Trump’s image but with the words “No to wars & militarism, yes to Irish neutrality”.
-With additional reporting from Jane Moore