I'm in Wexford, Ireland, where I spent the day in a courtroom waiting for the matter of Hugh Fagan to be heard. It wasn't.

Hugh is a young man who runs a live version of Twitter. He doesn't just tweet on his phone — he prints out signs, sets them up around himself and sits in the centre of the city.

For some reason, the police don't like that very much, even though I haven't seen anything threatening, profane or obscene in his placards. I think they just don't like him having certain opinions.

Today was supposed to be his trial. But a strike, or work-to-rule, is going on in the Irish courts. Things didn't start until 10:30 a.m., and by the time the judge reached Hugh's matter, there wasn't enough time left in the day. We spent the day hanging out, really.

The new date is May 10. I'll be back, and so will Hugh.

Between now and then, he has let it be known that he will keep sitting in a public place in the centre of town, quietly, with his messages. People can come up and talk to him, heckle him and haggle all they like.

In his mind, he's committing no criminal act. I share that view. I think this is another example of censorship, which I regret to report is on the rise in Ireland and around the world.

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That's why I'll be back in May. Irish people should see what's happening to their country, a country built, in my view, on freedom of speech. Think of the Irish troublemakers and poets: Yeats, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde. Think of modern rock stars like Sinéad O'Connor, U2, Dolores O'Riordan.

Half of being Irish is that fighting, rebellious spirit, isn't it?

So why are there courts and police cracking down on mild-mannered people who have the wrong opinion? It doesn't seem natural, but I'll let you decide that.

If you'd like to help me with my decision to help fight for free speech in Ireland, please chip in at IrishFreeSpech.com. It's our project to crowdfund legal help for Kirk Loco, who is on trial in Bray, and for Hugh in Wexford. We haven't reached our goal yet — and there's another person we're helping, whom I haven't announced yet.

For some reason, this beautiful country has decided that its future lies in controlling what people say and think. I just think that's wrong.