David Quinn of The Iona Institute appeared on the Last Word yesterday to debate the question, ‘Has political correctness gone too far?’ It was prompted by a column he wrote recently for The Irish Independent.

He said that while the basic aim of political correctness can be correct, that is, to combat racism, sexism etc, it uses these labels far too often to denounce people and is actually wearing out the shaming effect of terms like ‘racist’ and ‘sexist’. He gave examples of how political correctness has been used to justify the cover up of sex abuse scandals and voter fraud, plus the banning of speakers from campuses, the creation of ‘space safes’ where ‘offensive’ views cannot be heard, etc.

The other guests on the show were journalist, Barbara Scully, and Mary McAuliffe of UCD gender studies department.

The item can be heard here.