GEMMA O’DOHERTY AND JOHN WATERS

v.

THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH IRELAND AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

 

Except from Transcript Part 1

I do not want to be here today, but we are here because we are going to defend this book. Now, many other things are being interfered with as well, many other fundamental rights, such as the right to the children of Ireland to have an education, one of the basic fundamental rights laid out in this Constitution. People also have a right to private family life. What is currently being suggested is that members of An Garda Síochána may enter, break and enter into homes to investigate as to whether people with this virus, which there still is no actual test for, this is where this legislation is going. We also know that there are very serious discrepancies in relation to the Mental Health Act, the fact that only one person now, a barrister, solicitor can ascertain if somebody has ‑‑ if there are concerns about their mental health. Outrageous attacks on our fundamental freedoms are taking place as we speak. The entire working population is being denied the right to earn a living, who is paying for all of that? The taxpayer. This €350 that people are getting, somebody is going to have to pay for that further down the line. The Irish people are currently in debt of about €240 billion, €50,000 on the head of every Irish man, woman and child from the last disaster. We are now going to head into another recession that will make the Celtic Tiger look like a teddy bear’s picnic if this continues. The economy must be re‑opened. The people of Ireland must be ‑‑ must be allowed to go about their business. Our parks must be re‑opened. Our beaches must be re‑opened. The streets of our country, our roads must be re‑opened. These illegal garda check‑points must cease and normal life must resume. Not least, Judge, because in doing that, the 99.5 percent of the population who is utterly unaffected by coronavirus will go out and build up herd immunity.