“It is abundantly clear that this legislation has been badly thought through and is not fit for purpose. It must not proceed,” says Pa Daly, Sinn Fein’s TD for Kerry.

Sinn Fein, the largest party in opposition have now done a complete about-face on Ireland’s Hate Speech Law. Eleven months ago, every single Sinn Fein TD voted to pass the legislation. Their party manifesto made passing such a law a top priority.

The law, which allows the government to punish speech that protected groups “may” find offensive, even if you have not uttered or published that speech (mere possession counts), has drawn concerned comments from around the world, including from Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter), and Senator J. D. Vance of Ohio.

This is probably a salutary development for Ireland, in any case.

The incredible about-face of Sinn Fein on this issue is notable. Like the resignation of Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach, it seems like another unexpected response to the failure of two progressive referendum campaigns earlier this month.

Elected Ireland has lost its feel for the electorate and is now scrambling to catch up to the polls. To outsiders, Ireland’s consensus-driven politics can seem utterly sleepy at times, lacking the cut and thrust and daily conflict we expect in other legislative houses of the Anglosphere. But when Ireland experiences a shift of its consensus, all bets are off and every party can feel themselves in danger. Free speech now, immigration and refugee policy next?