Blasphemers!
It’s fair to say that news that emerged over the weekend that
Stephen Fry is under investigation for comments made about God during an appearance on The Meaning of Life with Gay Byrne didn’t go down too well.
The investigation, in case you hadn’t heard, has come about after a member of the public reported Fry's comments on the RTÉ show to Gardaí in Ennis, over two years after he made the comments during the show in February 2015.
Ireland, by the way, is the only country in the developed world to have introduced a blasphemy law in the 21
st century, although
reports suggest that preparatory steps have been taken towards having a referendum with regard to the law in the near future.
Although the tone of the reaction to news that Fry was mainly one of fury and outrage, it did also prompt a rather brilliant thread on Twitter,
started by comedian Alison Spittle, about amusing acts of blasphemy committed by Irish people.
If you're looking for a giggle, you can see some of the best responses to Alison's original example below and catch the thread in full
here; it’s just a pity the investigation itself is far from a laughing matter.
https://twitter.com/AlisonSpittle/status/860899986153906177
https://twitter.com/MaiaDunphy/status/860900297807454210
https://twitter.com/npowah/status/860921980392022016
https://twitter.com/Kallgeese/status/860912090634235904
https://twitter.com/Horsebox1986/status/860925626856984576
https://twitter.com/Camroc/status/860901585756487681
https://twitter.com/JustineStafford/status/861342435401707520
https://twitter.com/brilliantshane/status/860913062181842944
https://twitter.com/duuuaaaane/status/860937848408743936
https://twitter.com/thepokey/status/861421904883728384
