Police in Ireland are investigating Stephen Fry after a viewer claimed his outspoken comments about God on a TV show were blasphemous.

The actor and comedian could face a maximum penalty of a fine of 25,000 euros (£22,000) under Ireland's 2009 Defamation Act for branding the hypothetical creator an "utter maniac" for creating a world "so full of injustice and pain."

The Meaning of Life footage from 2015, in which Fry is quizzed by Irish TV presenter Gay Byrne, went viral after it was aired and has now been seen more than seven million times on YouTube.

Asked what he would say if he was confronted by God at the pearly gates of heaven, Fry replied: “I’d say, bone cancer in children? What’s that about?

“How dare you? How dare you create a world to which there is such misery that is 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 that is so full of injustice and pain. That’s what I would say. ”

Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes Show all 19 1 /19 Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Being Bipolar "There’s a moment in the film where I recognised that this was the last moment we filmed before this wave of depression came over me, and I was idiotic or victim enough, or whatever one wants to call it, of this mad compulsion." Getty Images Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Taking Cocaine At Buckingham Palace "I take this opportunity to apologise unreservedly, to the owners, managers or representatives of the noble and ignoble premises and to the hundreds of private homes, offices, car dashboards, tables, mantelpieces and available polished surfaces that could so easily have been added to this list of shame." Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On His Age "I don't need you to remind me of my age. I have a bladder to do that for me." Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Swearing "It would be impossible to imagine going through life without swearing and without enjoying swearing." Getty Images Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On TV "I don't watch television. It destroys the art of talking about oneself." PA Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Happiness "Having a great intellect is no path to being happy." Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Technology "One technology doesn't replace another, it complements. Books are no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevators." PA Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Being On Stage "You are who you are when nobody's watching." Geraint Lewis Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Education "Education is the sum of what students teach each other between lectures and seminars." Getty Images Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Creativity "An original idea. That can't be too hard. The library must be full of them." Getty Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Journalism "Many people would no more think of entering journalism than the sewage business - which at least does us all some good." PA WIRE Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Love "Love in all eight tones and all five semitones of the word's full octave." PA Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On The English Accent "A cut glass English accent can fool unsuspecting Americans into detecting a brilliance that isn't there." REX Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Being An Author "I get an urge, like a pregnant elephant, to go away and give birth to a book." Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Homosexuality "I’ve never wanted one extra gay person in the world, there are plenty of us around." Susannah Ireland / The Independent Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Christmas "Christmas to a child is the first terrible proof that to travel hopefully is better to arrive." Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Clichés "It is a cliché that most clichés are true, but then like most clichés, that cliché is untrue. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will always hurt me." BBC Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Smoking "I think I have always linked smoking and sex. Maybe this is where I have been going wrong all my life." Getty Images Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Homophobia "Homosexuals are not interested in making other people homosexuals. Homophobes are interested in making other people homophobic."

Mr Byrne’s second question, “And you think you are going to get in, like that?” only served to fuel his anger.

"But I wouldn't want to," Fry insisted. “I wouldn't want to get in on his terms. They are wrong.

"Now, if I died and it was Pluto, Hades, and if it was the 12 Greek gods then I would have more truck with it, because the Greeks didn’t pretend to not be human in their appetites, in their capriciousness, and in their unreasonableness… they didn’t present themselves as being all-seeing, all-wise, all-kind, all-beneficent, because the god that created this universe, if it was created by god, is quite clearly a maniac… utter maniac, totally selfish.

“We have to spend our life on our knees thanking him? What kind of god would do that?

"So, atheism isn’t not just about not believing there’s a God, but on the assumption there is one, what kind of God is he?”

Visibly taken aback by Fry’s answer, Mr Byrne said: “That sure is the longest answer to that question I ever got in this entire series.”