Helen McEntee: Irish minister drops plans for hate speech laws

She said the message would be sent that “if you attack a person, commit a crime against a person or a group of people, simply because of who they are, the colour of their skin, where they have come from that there will be a tougher sentence, a harsher sentence at the end of the day”.

There has been a huge amount of debate over the bill.

Senator Michael McDowell said he welcomed the changes being made to the bill.

“I very much welcome that opposition in the Seanad has caused the government to rethink the matter and government backbenchers to put pressure on the government to see sense on this matter,” he said.

Sinn Féin had called for the bill to be scrapped though politicians had voted in favour of it in the Dáil (lower house of Irish parliament) last April.

RTÉ reported that Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said they had not supported the bill in the Seanad and had voted against it in June., external

“We had raised serious concerns with this legislation right through the process and had tabled a number of amendments,” he said.

Mr Doherty said it was time to stop the “farce” of the bill.