Ireland have not only set a legal precedence this week but it has reinforced it with a second ruling less than 24 hours later. Both involved the health authorities insistence on providing blood transfusion for Jevoah's Witnesses who view the procedure as being contradicatory to their religious beliefs. The medical proffession were steadfast in their duty under the consititution to uphold the sanctity of human life.
Senator Ivana Bacik recently raised the issue of the integration of ethnicity into Irish society. Her assertion that our health service is 'bound up with religious affiliation' can now be rebutted. However, in winning this battle, have we conceeded her war on the belief that a multicultural model can lead to the oppression of minority members?
In the same weekend, Tom McGurk, in the pages of The Sunday Business Post, called for a re-evaluation of Enoch Powell's 'River of Blood' speech to deal with the immigration issue. While being quick to distance himself from how the views were presented, McGurk did quote various polls indicating that Powell's impending ‘‘immigration crisis’’ is upon us.
Both arguments are framed in the context of a view put forward by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who caused controversy in Britain when he suggested that some recognition of Islamic Sharia law should be accommodated in the British legal system. His proposal was universally condemned by other church leaders, government and opposition MPs united in the disbelief that any system of religious law could co-exist with British law.
As viable as this dual-state could seem, Bacik's and McGurk's search for the boundary line between one man's rights and another man's beliefs has been drawn; the constitution takes precedence and where this viewpoint appears dated, then a deate should be held on a issue by issue basis.
