Dr Elizabeth Farries Interviewed by Newstalk’s The Hard Shoulder on Irish Mobile Phone Laws

30.06.2026. Yesterday, our co-director Elizabeth Farries joined Newstalk‘s The Hard Shoulder with Ciara Kelly to discuss Ireland’s “outdated” mobile phone laws. This discussion emerged from former RTÉ presenter, Joe Duffy, calling for the Government to introduce new legislation which would extend gardaí powers – allowing them to seize mobile phones without a warrant.

While Ireland’s laws on mobile phones are arguably outdated, and mobile phone technology has developed exponentially, Dr Farries argues that “the gardaí already have extensive search powers, but not on the basis of a hunch alone,” calling Duffy’s claim a “perplexing ask.” Dr Farries continues to query the potential harms such intuition policing and surveillance may cause more broadly, highlighting the likelihood of such legislation targeting those already most at risk:

“Who will be harmed by this ‘Gardai Intuition Law’? It certainly wouldn’t be the organized criminals with burner phones at the ready; rather, it’s going to be the more vulnerable populations… populations that already tend to be historically overpoliced.”

Listen to the full interview here.