Seanad considering ban on protests outside homes of politicians

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee is being urged to support a bill to ban protests outside the private homes of politicians, following a surge in recent protests.

Fianna Fáil’s Senator Malcolm Byrne has brought a bill before the Seanad, and believes Minister McEntee needs to take a tougher line on the matter.

The bill comes in the wake of recent demonstrations outside the homes of high ranking politicians, including the Minister for Integration Roderic O'Gorman, Taoiseach Simon Harris and former government leader Leo Varadkar.

Minister McEntee has herself had protests outside her home, also experiencing multiple bomb threats.

Among the Cabinet, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has previously indicated he thinks legislation to ban protests outside politicians’ homes is worth considering, saying on Newstalk's the Hard Shoulder that it is a “conversation we have to have”.

“This is moving into a different place now; we now have well-organised extremists, the far-right, we've seen the violence close to my own home in Newtownmountkennedy - not organised or orchestrated by people in Newtownmountkennedy,” Donnelly said.