Do you think the death penalty should be introduced to Irish courts? ( Archived) (18)

I've watched the video. I can't imagine and I don't want to imagine what it is like to have to give the order to flick the switch or be the person whose job it is to flick the switch to end a life. It is playing God, but they are doing a 'job' they signed up for. I don't know that anyone can prepare or be prepared for such a job.

I guess you're against the death penalty?
I'm for it, purely because there are some crimes people have committed/commit that are just evil, that's the only word I can come up with. I feel why should they be allowed to live? A prison sentence isn't all that bad is it? With the chance of parole....criminals in jail often live better than some of us on the outside....not that I envy their life. Then I question is a 'quick death' punishment enough? The way I see it is at the end of the day the death penalty is not something that is decided by one person alone. It only takes one person to end the life (by pulling the switch) and while they cannot anticipate what that will be like or what the repercussions will be, it's the part they play because they agreed to taking on the role. It's certainly not something I could do and wouldn't envy anyone who does. How can one detach themselves from such a situation?

First off. This is not going to happen. For a number of reasons. Firstly, membership of the European Union is dependent on your country not having the death penalty. To look to bring the death penalty back would therefore necessitate either leaving the EU or some kind of legal change in European Law. Secondly, we only abolished the death penalty officially in 2001. To restore it would require a referendum and there is no chance that any government worth their salt would risk losing support by wasting tax payers' money holding a referendum where a landslide no would be a foregone conclusion and where a yes vote would put our membership of the EU at risk.

Those are the practical reasons why this will never happen. Now for the moral reasons why this should never happen. I've yet to see any convincing evidence that the death penalty acts as a deterrent. If this is not the case then why pursue it? Secondly, legal systems the world over are notoriously problematic and prone to both corruption and human error. There are far too many cases of wrongful imprisonment to have any faith that the wrong people will not be executed. If the death penalty still existed in the UK, the Birmingham 6, Guildford 4, Judith Ward,Winston Silcott, the Bridgewater 3 and others would have most likely gone to the gallows. For me, if one innocent pefrson is executed, it is one too many. Finally, in a modern, civilised society, the state should ideally be held to a higher standard. I know this is aspirational, but giving the state legitimacy to end the life of its citzens is totally wrong in my view. I for one, do not believe it is right to give the state that power. The death penalty is barbaric, counterproductive and outdated. We should be moving to a world without the death penalty, not aspiring to bring it back to more countries. The gruesomeness of people's crimes is a separate matter. As the old saying goes "hard cases make for bad law". To bring back the penalty would be a retrograde step in my view.