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Irish Council for Civil Liberties 🏳️‍🌈
@iccl.bsky.social
1.4K followers 570 following 250 posts
Ireland’s oldest independent human rights body. Find out more & sign up for updates: http://iccl.ie
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We’re delighted to invite you to Bringing Human Rights to Life on Screen: An ICCL panel discussion at Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF)!

🗓️ Sunday 22 February, 11am - 12pm
📍 Haymarket House, Smithfield, Dublin 7, D07CF98

🎟️Tickets cost €7 and are available here ➡️ www.diff.ie/programme/ic...
February 11, 2026 at 3:42 PM
iccl.bsky.social
Our colleagues at the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (INCLO) invite you to the launch of "Fighting for Our Lives: Pathways to Abortion Rights Globally".

📆 Thursday, 22 January
🕑 1:00 PM UTC
📍 Online

Register here ➡️ us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
January 20, 2026 at 12:56 PM
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As the inquest into the death of George Nkencho gets underway this week, we stand in solidarity with his family as they continue their campaign for truth, accountability and justice.

www.thejournal.ie/george-nkenc...
January 15, 2026 at 5:52 PM
iccl.bsky.social
As of today, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties will no longer be posting or monitoring our account on X 👇
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties will no longer be posting on X. For updates on our work, you can find us on LinkedIn, Instagram or Bluesky. You can also sign up to our email list.
January 9, 2026 at 12:05 PM
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ICCL and Digital Rights Ireland are calling on An Garda Siochana to investigate X under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1988, after its Grok AI chatbot generated non-consensual and sexualised deepfake images of children and women. Read more ➡️ www.iccl.ie/press-releas...
January 6, 2026 at 2:25 PM
iccl.bsky.social
ICCL, in collaboration with ShoutOut and Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI), published Ireland's first-ever comprehensive "Know Your Rights" guide for trans and non-binary people yesterday.

Learn more and download the full guide ➡️ www.iccl.ie/news/iccl-pu...
December 10, 2025 at 12:22 PM
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ICCL Executive Director, Joe O'Brien, will appear on @news.rte.ie this evening to discuss our concerns about the plans to equip frontline Gardaí with tasers.

Learn more ➡️ www.rte.ie/news/2025/12...
December 2, 2025 at 5:30 PM
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Finally, watch @tjmcintyre.com recommend to the committee that, moving forward, the sections of the Bill that are not required under NIS2 should be dropped to allow for the straightforward transposition of NIS2 and then the State can consider what else is necessary. (15/15)
November 26, 2025 at 1:02 PM
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Here @tjmcintyre.com explains why it’s so problematic that the Bill is putting the NCSC - which is being given very broad powers - under the direct political control of the Minister. (14/15)
November 26, 2025 at 1:02 PM
iccl.bsky.social
In short, they agreed. (13/15)
November 26, 2025 at 1:02 PM
iccl.bsky.social
Senator Lynn Ruane asked attendees if they believed the powers provided under the Bill cross the line from cybersecurity measures into surveillance powers. (12/15)
November 26, 2025 at 1:02 PM
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Dept of Justice officials told the committee this Head 3 section refers to a function as opposed to a power. @tjmcintyre.com highlights that the powers under Head 7 (to block access and issue an internet death penalty) do not require a court order or independent oversight. (11/15)
November 26, 2025 at 1:02 PM
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Solicitor Sean McElligott earlier highlighted how Head 3(1)(d) suggests the NCSC could essentially 'unplug' anyone and do whatever they want, to whomever they want, whenever they want, without any regulatory supervision whatsoever. (10/15)
November 26, 2025 at 1:02 PM
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Watch @tjmcintyre.com explain why having no definition of 'national security' anywhere in Irish law means this could lead the NCSC to have a very open-ended power, left to the discretion of the Minister, to order the surveillance of the communications of everyone in the State. (9/15)
November 26, 2025 at 1:02 PM
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He also explains how Head 9 would allow the NCSC to compel communications providers, such as WhatsApp and iMessage, to install surveillance devices on their networks to scoop up metadata of every user of the service on the basis of ‘national security’. (7/15)
November 26, 2025 at 1:02 PM
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Watch @tjmcintyre.com explain how Head 7 would give the NCSC very wide powers to block access to websites and how 8 would give it the unprecedented power to scan and store the entirety of the network traffic in public sector bodies, which could include the contents of politicians’ emails. (5/15)
November 26, 2025 at 1:02 PM
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Here @tjmcintyre.com explains why allowing the NCSC to scan in this way is so problematic. (4/15)
November 26, 2025 at 1:02 PM
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Watch @tjmcintyre.com tell the committee how Head 6 would allow the NCSC to scan any publicly accessible network or information system for vulnerabilities - without their knowledge or consent - including small businesses, NGOs, homes, or politicians’ offices. (3/15)
November 26, 2025 at 1:02 PM
iccl.bsky.social
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) welcomes the publication today of the Oireachtas Justice Committee’s pre-legislative scrutiny report on the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025.

Swipe to read our full statement 👉
Statement on the Pre-Legislative Scrutiny Report on the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 November 13, 2025 The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) welcomes the publication today of the Oireachtas Justice Committee’s pre-legislative scrutiny report on the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025. This bill covers a range of criminal justice issues, including giving Gardaí powers to ask someone to remove a face covering, the disclosure of counselling records in sexual offence trials, and equipping prison officers with incapacitant spray. ICCL is pleased that the Committee recommended that the proposal to give Gardaí explicit powers to ask someone to remove a face covering if they are acting in an intimidating manner be subject to extensive human rights scrutiny, including how this provision might affect people who wear face coverings for legitimate reasons. The Committee also recommended that the provision’s intended impact be assessed and that it should be established if such powers already exist. We urge the Minister for Justice and the Department of Justice to complete this scrutiny in a timely manner. Gardaí already have expansive powers under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 to address threatening, intimidating or violent behaviour. We believe this proposal is a disproportionate interference with the right to peaceful protest and an unnecessary expansion of Garda powers. In our submission to the Committee, we recommended it be repealed. Wearing a face covering is not in itself violent behaviour, nor does it indicate an intention to engage in violence. ICCL will continue to engage on this bill to protect the right to peaceful protest.
November 13, 2025 at 1:01 PM
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Join us next Tuesday for a panel discussion on freedom of expression, with Dan Lambert, Claire Mc Evoy and Una Mullally!

Kneecapping Dissent: A panel discussion on the crippling of artistic and political expression

🗓️ 14 October, 7.00pm to 8.30pm

📍 Hen's Teeth, Blackpitts, Dublin, D08 A9FD
October 9, 2025 at 11:12 AM
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ICCL condemns the wholly disproportionate use of force by An Garda Síochána at a Dublin protest opposing genocide in Palestine on Saturday, 4 October.
October 7, 2025 at 3:21 PM
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🚨Reminder 🚨

🗓️ Saturday, 4 October
⏰ 12.30pm
📍Garden of Remembrance

@ipsc.bsky.social #FreePalestine #FlotillaUnderAttack 🇵🇸
October 2, 2025 at 4:06 PM
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ICCL welcomes the news that the Central Bank of Ireland will no longer authorise the sale of Israeli State bonds, or "war bonds".
ICCL welcomes the news that the Central Bank of Ireland will no longer authorise the sale of Israeli State bonds, or "war bonds". This marks a significant victory for civil society and is the direct result of sustained, determined campaigning by activists, and groups like the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. The move by Gary Gannon TD to launch High Court proceedings against the Central Bank also deserves significant recognition. Under the EU Charter of Fundamental Human Rights, the government has an obligation to ensure that the Irish State is not complicit in, and does not facilitate or finance, grave human rights violations, including genocide, occupation and apartheid. While the decision to halt the sale of Israeli bonds is long overdue, it is important to recognise that this is not the result of political will or government action. It is the result of months of protesting, campaigning, relentless pressure and advocacy from protesters, civil society organisations, grassroot movements and trade unions. This moment underscores why the rights of individuals, communities and civil society to challenge the status quo with protest, direct action and advocacy are essential in a democratic society. When the State fails to uphold or defend human rights, individuals must be empowered to hold it to account and demand justice.
September 2, 2025 at 4:57 PM
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The Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee has made a unanimous and unequivocal recommendation that the #OTB be extended to include a ban on trade in services from the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

#PassTheOTB #FreePalestine #GazaGenocide
July 31, 2025 at 4:39 PM
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It is crucial to our democracy that protest is facilitated and that our rights to assemble and express our opinions are protected.

As we witness genocide unfold in Gaza, ICCL calls on the Garda Commissioner, policing oversight bodies and Minister for Justice to ensure that these rights are upheld.
Image is text reading: Press Release: Right to protest, freedom of expression and assembly must be upheld It is crucial to our democracy that protest is facilitated and that our rights to assemble and express our opinions are protected. We are all witnessing a horrific debasing of humanity in Gaza, the likes of which most of us have not experienced in our lifetimes. The genocide and associated crimes being perpetrated in Gaza are abhorrent and many of us feel deeply impacted by them. It is important that we are all granted the space to publicly express our revulsion, and to publicly and peacefully call on government to do everything in its power to stop the genocide in Gaza. Image is text reading: Around the world there is a concerning pattern of increasing restrictions on protest and freedom of expression, in particular relating to pro-Palestinian protest. Here in Ireland, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has been monitoring policing responses to pro-Palestinian protests and speaking to protesters about their experiences with An Garda Síochána. We have also been developing a network of independent legal observers with the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the University of Galway, and network members have been present at recent protests. We will continue to monitor the policing of protest and highlight concerns. We call on the Garda Commissioner, policing oversight bodies and Minister for Justice to ensure that the rights of all people in Ireland to protest peacefully are upheld and respected.
July 25, 2025 at 12:48 PM