"Jesus Christ Almighty!" That will be a €25,000 fine.

I've just learned that we are to hold a referendum in the autumn on the "Blasphemy Law". Only in Ireland could you find a minister of justice so right-wing that he would enact an archaic blasphemy law in 2009. As is typical of our politicians, Ahern displays a cloud-cuckoo land attitude to day-to-day real life in this country.

With each passing day, Ireland weeps at the atrocities and the cover-ups of the Roman Catholic Church. Not only was this evil carried out by the Church, it was also aided and abetted by the institutions of the State. In the midst of all of this Ahern stands up and announces that he's introducing blasphemy legislation?! I wish that some TD had the balls to table a motion "This house moves to give the Minister for Justice a slap." Chances are that would pass 165:1.

This referendum is good news for three reasons: I will get a day's work as a Presiding Officer out of it. It will be undoubtedly be passed by a huge majority - giving Fianna Fail a slap that it so deserves. (Can we all line up and slap them individually?) And thirdly it will be a final sign to the Roman Catholic Church that there is no place for a theocracy in the Irish Republic.