The right to freedom of expression is not an absolute right because something that one person says may cause offence to another. Freedom of expression may sometimes have to be curtailed in the interests of society.

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights provides that everyone has the right to freedom of expression. However, it’s expression is “subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary”.

A number of Irish cases have gone to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the issue of freedom of expression. The 1994 case of Proinsia de Rossa -v- the Sunday Independent concerned a newspaper report by Mr. Eamon Dunphy which implied that Mr. de Rossa was involved in serious paramilitary crime, was anti-Semitic and supported violent communist oppression. The newspaper appealed the award of