Censorship of Publications Board (Ireland)

The Censorship of Publications Board is an independent board established by the Censorship of Publications Act, 1929 to examine books and periodicals that are for sale in the Republic of Ireland. It is governed by the Censorship of Publications Acts of 1929, 1946 and 1967. The Board has the authority to prohibit any book or periodical that they find to be obscene. This makes it illegal to buy, sell or distribute that publication in the Republic of Ireland. The Board prohibited a large number of publications in the past, including books by respected authors. However, since the 1990s it does not prohibit publications very often.

On 2 October 1925, the Minister for Justice, Kevin O'Higgins stated in Dáil Éireann that the existing censorship laws were sufficient to deal with the sale and distribution of obscene literature and that it was not the State's duty to decide what was proper for the Irish public to read. The public disagreed with this, however, and public pressure caused O'Higgins to appoint a Committee on Evil Literature to discover whether it was necessary to extend the government's existing censorship powers so that public morality could be safeguarded.

The Committee, initially consisting of a professor of English literature, two members of parliament, a Church of Ireland clergyman and a Roman Catholic priest heard submissions from individuals, organisations and institutions, including religious and social institutions. Its report, which expressed dissatisfaction with the existing laws, was presented to the minister on 28 December 1926. One problem was that the vast majority of the publishers of offensive material operated outside Ireland, leaving only individual booksellers and distributors liable to prosecution. Their prosecution did not have any real impact on the availability of objectionable material. Another problem was that powers of customs and postal authorities to seize this material was ill-defined and seizure was thus ineffectual. The Committee concluded that it was the Irish state's duty to prevent the circulation of publications that were considered to be obscene and morally corrupting. The Committee proposed the introduction of new legislation and the establishment of a censorship board to advise the minister on which publications should be prohibited. The new legislation – the Censorship of Publications Act, 1929 – established the Censorship of Publications Board.

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