Irish homeowners can now legally use guns to defend themselves if their homes are attacked under new legislation.
The new home defense bill has moved the balance of rights back to the house owner if his home is broken into "where it should always have been", say top Irish police.
The police association of superintendents and inspectors, the AGSI, stated that “the current situation, which legally demands a house owner retreat from an intruder, was intolerable".
The new bill was published by Justice Minister Dermot Ahern yesterday. Under the bill homeowners will be allowed to use "reasonable" force against intruders to defend themselves, others or their property. This includes lethal force, depending on the circumstances.
Justice Minister Dermot Ahern stated that house owners could use guns in self-defense, especially if the intruders were armed but said it would ultimately be a matter for the courts to resolve.
The bill also clarifies that a house owner will not be required to retreat from an intruder. and that intruders injured as a result of reasonable force won’t be able to sue the house owner.
"The bill is welcomed because it aims to clarify the entitlements of a homeowner when faced with the situation where an uninvited intruder has entered the home," AGSI vice-president Dan Hanley told the Irish Examiner.
"The bill aims to shift the balance of rights back to the homeowner where it should always have been. It is intolerable a homeowner should be compelled to retreat in front of an intruder who has entered the home and who may have malign intentions towards the homeowner, the family or the home owner’s property."
Hanley added: "It is ridiculous to suggest the bill, which attempts to redress a serious legal imbalance, would provide a license to kill or a ‘have-a-go’ charter for homeowners, the vast majority of whom will continue to act with good sense and in a peaceful way."
Minister Ahern also dismissed the suggestion the bill was a "license to kill". He stated it merely allowed for lethal force provided it was justifiable.
Rural Link, the national network of community groups in rural Ireland welcomed the bill, saying it was "sensible legislation giving much needed clarity to homeowners on their rights when confronted by intruders".
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties however, stated it would inspect the bill to establish that it was "human-rights compliant".
The need for new legislation became evident after an intruder, John Ward, was shot dead while on the land and dwelling area of Mayo farmer, Pádraig Nally.
Nally was convicted of manslaughter, but his conviction was later overturned after a public outcry.
Burglaries in Ireland increased from 23,600 in 2007 to 26,800 in 2009. Violent burglaries rose from 255 to 363 in the same period.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Madeliene | Jan 04, 2013, 11:36 AM EST
Not if fathillary gets over there!
MAGHNUS | Aug 17, 2010, 06:48 AM EDT
Oh goody, kill all the illegal invaders.
Stonegate | Aug 09, 2010, 05:38 PM EDT
Who ever sat around disscusing the law when their children's lives were being endangered?
mickeyl | Jul 26, 2010, 10:05 PM EDT
It's good to see that the basic right to defend one's life, family, and property has been restored to the Irish People. Obviously the Irish Council for Civil Liberties believes that criminals and other assorted social degenerates have the "human right" to break into your home, destroy your property, rape your wife and murder your family unhindered by any means of self defense on the part of the law abiding citizen. Sounds like our ACLU.
Monsoonman | Jul 25, 2010, 11:44 AM EDT
Idea of the year for Sean Lad!
seanomelbourne | Jul 25, 2010, 02:46 AM EDT
maybe some target practice on corrupt bankers and politicians would be a good start.
Monsoonman | Jul 24, 2010, 10:18 PM EDT
Perhaps the government can regulate it though with a season and bag limit. Perhaps require a license too, in order to help ease the fiscal crisis.
Liamkeyes | Jul 23, 2010, 10:57 AM EDT
Well Done Dermot Ahearn. This will level the playing field, It may make the "Messers and Dossers' stop and think before breaking into a House. It gives more substance to "A Man's Home is his Castle...."
Monsoonman | Jul 23, 2010, 09:43 AM EDT
If the government can't protect you, then you have every right to protect yourself. I would rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6.
IrishAndProud | Jul 22, 2010, 11:45 PM EDT
Uh, hollabackgurl...speaking of ignorance...perhaps you should actuallyread that commandment you blurted out, so incorrectly. It doesn't say 'Thou shalt not kill,' as gentiles so typically mistranslate/misunderstand it. From the original Hebrew (where it COMES from, after all) -- and NOT in old-fashioned English -- it says 'You will not MURDER.' And interestingly enough, the punishment for violating this commandment was...DEATH.
AmAncINED | Jul 22, 2010, 04:04 PM EDT
Kateomprint, that's what happens in America. The criminals usually have more rights than the victims. It's good that Irish citizens are able to protect themselves.
kateomprint | Jul 22, 2010, 12:16 PM EDT
Maybe it will promote more voilence I don't know, but i think people are entitled to protect their family but knowing our irish laws it is possible that the intruder will have more rights than the people who are being burgled
TXPatriot | Jul 22, 2010, 12:07 PM EDT
Glad to see the Irish still have their gun rights.
hollabackgurl | Jul 22, 2010, 11:27 AM EDT
Krisdaly thinks the right to shoot someone was ordained by God. He needs to study his bible, becuase he's got it exactly back to front: Thou Shalt Not Kill doesn't come with an asterix. The growing ignorance of your average American these days is mind-blowing, seriously.
irishman70 | Jul 22, 2010, 11:24 AM EDT
Further proof Irish are people of reason!
grimchieftain | Jul 22, 2010, 03:11 AM EDT
Thank God I live in Kansas USA where I store a handgun and two rifles in my home, which I can legally discharge upon any intruder foolish enough to attempt to burgle my property.
ooconnell | Jul 22, 2010, 02:57 AM EDT
@cabbagehead: Nobody's talking about randomly harming tourists or salespeople. Nally was an old farmer living on his own in an isolated area, being terrorised, harassed and threatened on his own land and in his own home. And I'm glad that the closed-shop of the ICCL (no membership for the unwashed masses, unlike the ACLU) is once again behaving like an Onion parody, so that we can all sleep more soundly knowing that violent home-invaders will be protected too.
peterson | Jul 21, 2010, 06:59 PM EDT
Make it a two shot deal, the second one in the middle of the forehead !!
Ms.Gail | Jul 21, 2010, 05:20 PM EDT
This is good, garroting was getting so tedious.
krisdaly | Jul 21, 2010, 04:36 PM EDT
Thank the Almighty that common sense has prevailed in Ireland as the right to self defense is a birthright as given to us by our Creator.
Scrivner | Jul 21, 2010, 12:18 PM EDT
Now if the Lord Mayor of Chicago, Ritchy Daley, would only learn the leasson! The US Supreme Court overturned the city ordinance banning hand guns, so the City Council quickly imposed a seriies of onerous registration requirements with the sole intent to discourage lawabiding citizens for arming themselves...and generate some fee income for the government.
Renfield | Jul 21, 2010, 11:12 AM EDT
A few states in the USA, such as New Jersey, at one time required that the homeowner retreat if possible. However, the idea that a homeowner should have to flee from his own dwelling was so repugnant to most people that most of those laws have been changed. But it is not license to shoot anyone who enters your house. In most states, it is legal to use deadly force to stop a "forcible felony." Still, the vast majority of legal uses of a firearm involve simply brandishing the gun and causing the criminal to retreat. Alabama is one of many "stand your ground" states, which don't even require that you retreat if you are out on the street. My own lawyer, a county prosecutor in New Jersey, told me that regardless of the actual law, it would be difficult to get a jury to convict, say, an elderly woman homeowner who shot a burly home invader with a long criminal record. It still depends on the unique circumstances of each case. I'm glad to see that Ireland has changed its law, and I hope the rest of the UK does the same. Self-defense is a fundamental right that government cannot take away. All but a few states now readily issue concealed carry permits, and the predicted bloodbath never materialized. Ireland would not regret allowing its law-abiding citizens to arm themselves.
cabbagehead44 | Jul 21, 2010, 11:11 AM EDT
It sounds to me that this Mayo farmer who shot the intruder was guilty of manslaughter if not murder unless there was more to the story than appeared in the article. Doesn't Ireland have a tradition of letting you camp overnight on a farmer's land as a tourist? What about the Tinkers who traditionally travel around and encamp?
shidoobe | Jul 21, 2010, 09:26 AM EDT
As an NRA member for over 30 years in the USA my point to make is why own a firearm if you cannot defend yourself?
Padraig | Jul 21, 2010, 05:45 AM EDT
This is in response to tinkers.