Irish police have ceased an investigation against Stephen Fry for committing blasphemy when he said 'God is a maniac' on Irish TV, after only one viewer had made a complaint.
The Garda Síochána, Ireland's police force, have halted the prosecution of Fry, for comments he made in an interview with Irish broadcaster Gay Byrne in 2015, according to The Guardian.
Only one viewer made a formal complaint about Fry's remarks, which is insufficient grounding for prosecution under Ireland's 2009 blasphemy legislation.
On Bryne's show, The Meaning of Life, Fry had been asked what he would say to God at heaven's pearly gates.
In a widely-reported reply, Fry said: 'How dare you create a world in which there is such misery? It's not our fault? It's not right. It's utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid god who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain?'
If he were met by Greek gods, he said, he would be more accepting because 'they didn't present themselves as being all seeing, all wise, all beneficent'.
He added: 'Because the god who created this universe, if it was created by god, is quite clearly a maniac, an utter maniac, totally selfish.'
The individual who had made the formal complaint previously told the Irish Independent that he was not personally offended, but he thought that Fry had broken the law. He said he was satisfied that the case had been investigated.
Ireland's Defamation Act of 2009 made it illegal to publish or utter blasphemous material.
The offence of blasphemy carries a maximum fine of €25,000, though there have been no cases brought before the courts so far. Ireland is the only country in the developed world to have introduced a blasphemy offence this century.
Atheist Ireland have advocated for what it called the 'dangerous and absurd' legislation to be dismantled, and called for a referendum on its repeal. Mick Nugent, the group's co-founder said the legislation was an international embarrassment for Ireland, and only emboldened Islamic states where violation of blasphemy laws carries the death penalty.
