Things could explode in massive fury, because the government is trying to push through a new Hate Speech law.

It contains the usual garble about incitement to violence, hatred directed toward special groups; the new wrinkle makes it a crime to even POSSESS such hate material.

If my experience as a kid with Irish kids is still relevant, half of Ireland could wind up in jail if this law passes. Those kids were masters of the insult. They practiced and cultivated it. For them, it was an art form.

If the law passes, I think the government is going to have to outlaw booze. Which is often the initiator of "hate speech."

I assume the Irish government itself would be one of the special groups—hate speech directed at it would qualify as a crime. If so, you may as well not refer to Ireland as a nation anymore.

If that Irish lad George Carlin were still alive, I think he would have much to say about this new law.

"But they take it too far, they take themselves too seriously, they exaggerate. They want me to call that thing in the street a 'person-hole cover;' I think that's taking it a little bit too far. What would you call a lady's man, a 'person's person'? That would make a 'He-man an 'It-person.' Little kids would be afraid of 'the boogieperson'. They'd look up in the sky and see 'the person in the moon'. Guys would say, 'Come back here and fight like a person,' And we'd all sing 'For it's a jolly good person'."