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This is the first major study of Ireland's Emergency censorship which was in place for the duration of the Second World War. Drawing largely on primary source material which has only recently come into the public domain. Donal O Drisceoil provides a comprehensive account and analysis of this hitherto unexplored episode of Irish history.
This political/security censorship covered all media and communications and was one of the harshest regimes of its kind, particularly in comparison to other neutrals. Its purpose was to contribute to the preservation of the state and its neutrality, to 'keep the temperature down' both within the state and between Ireland and the belligerents. To this end, war news was 'neutralised', including the suppression of reports of the Holocaust; newspapers were seized; newsreels and films such as Chaplin's The Great Dictator were banned; coverage of social, economic and political issues was severely restricted; and the expression of opinions on the war, neutrality and much else of importance was curtailed. Few escaped its net, including bishops and government ministers.
This book examines all aspects of the censorship and explains its relative extremism by placing it in the context of Irish political culture and the particular nature of the state's wartime neutrality. In the process it adds to our understanding of these subjects, while the story of the censorship provides a window of enquiry into the politics and society of wartime Ireland. This book is a valuable contribution to contemporary Irish history, but also has topical relevance to present-day debates concerning censorship, democracy and neutrality.
