A Victory for Free Speech
Precious Life's PROTECT FREE SPEECH Campaign has scored a major victory! Belfast City Council has dropped its plan to ban our weekly city-centre information stall, a stall that for 28 years has given a voice to the unborn child and offered life-saving information to countless people.
Back in 2023, the Council proposed new byelaws that would have forced anyone wishing to set up a simple information stall—or even use an amplification device—to pay for a council permit. Without this permit, individuals would have been slapped with a £500 fine. Although framed as an effort to “tackle noise nuisance,” these proposals would have created a chilling effect on free expression in the city centre. It was clear that Precious Life and street preachers were being deliberately targeted.
We couldn’t let this go unchallenged. Precious Life immediately launched the PROTECT FREE SPEECH Campaign and mobilised supporters across the community. We urged people to respond boldly to s public consultation on the proposed byelaws, reminding them that freedom of assembly and expression are fundamental human rights, protected by Articles 10 and 11 of the Human Rights Act and firmly upheld within the Good Friday Agreement.
We created a detailed GUIDANCE document explaining exactly how to respond and why these rights matter for everyone in Northern Ireland, regardless of their beliefs.
The Public Consultation was open to anyone who had ever visited, or planned to visit Belfast City Centre. So we produced Campaign leaflets and distributed tens of thousands across Northern Ireland.
The response was extraordinary.
- • 3,571 people completed the council’s online consultation
- • 14,878 written comments were sent to Belfast City Hall
- • 7,000 people signed a Liberty NI petition opposing the proposed restrictions
The message from the public was unmistakable: the people of Northern Ireland did not want these restrictive byelaws.
And because of this overwhelming stand for freedom of speech, the Council has now abandoned its original plan to require permits for information stalls or street preaching. This is a HUGE VICTORY — and it happened because ordinary people refused to be silenced.
However, our work isn’t finished...
While the revised proposals are a step forward, they still contain deeply concerning elements. People could still face a £500 fine if their amplification exceeds 70 decibels — roughly the volume of a noisy vacuum, dishwasher, or loud conversation. Such a low limit would make effective preaching, peaceful protest, carol singing or even normal public speaking almost impossible.
Yet the byelaws allow special exemptions for council-approved events, while offering no protection for religious expression, small community gatherings, street preachers, or grassroots campaigns. This creates an unfair two-tier system where official groups are privileged and ordinary voices are pushed out.
It also needs to be noted that the pro-abortion SDLP and the Alliance Party expressed their ‘disappointment’ that the revised byelaws do not ban the display of pro-life images. The Council will now produce a further report on how to deal with pro-life displays in the future.
The Council’s undefined "Code of Conduct" also raises serious concerns. There is a danger the Council could attempt to use this to ban pro-life stalls or free speech ‘through the back door’. Their Code of Conduct does not yet exist and can be changed at any time. This means people could be fined for failing to follow whatever rules the Council later decides to impose.
The revised byelaws will now be sent to Stormont for approval before they can be approved.
But today, we celebrate a real victory.
Our pro-life stall at our weekly Street Outreach continues as normal every Saturday afternoon (contact us to get involved)
THANK YOU to everyone who spoke out, responded, prayed, and refused to let free speech be trampled.
This victory would not have happened without your participation.
We’ve proven that when we stand together, our voices cannot be silenced.
TAKE ACTION
Contact the Councillors on Belfast City Council and tell them you say:
- No to vague Codes of Conduct
- No to unfair exemptions.
- No to decibel limits that silence ordinary people.
- Yes to equal freedom for everyone.
Contact details for Belfast City Councillors can be found here…
Or contact Precious Life on 028 9027 8484 / info@preciouslife.com