Blasphemy vote cannot be deferred - Europe speaks with one voice

Yesterday’s marches, ceremonies of remembrance and defiance, were among the greatest expressions of solidarity and determination seen in Europe since VE Day — May 8, 1945 — when the final destruction of an evil as malignant as that expressed in France and Nigeria last week was celebrated.

More than a million people marched in Paris in solidarity with the victims of last week’s attacks by Muslim extremists. They also marched in support of the non-negotiable right to free speech and the freedom of the press. Hundreds of thousands more, more than a million in total possibly, attended similar ceremonies right across Europe yesterday and on Saturday.

The Paris show of strength was attended by about 40 heads of state or government. German chancellor Angela Merkel, British prime minister David Cameron, Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi, Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu ,and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu were among those who marched with French president François Hollande. The message to those who might challenge Europe’s deeply held democratic, comparatively liberal, social beliefs was clear, unambiguous and could hardly have been more forcefully expressed. Taoiseach Enda Kenny was there too — thankfully and very rightly — but he must have hoped that none of his colleagues had the inclination to challenge him about our constitutional ban on blasphemy.