Ireland: Section 31 dropped
01 January 1994
The order under Section 31 of the Irish Republic's Broadcasting Act which bans interviews with named organisations, including Sinn Fein, has not been renewed as widely predicted and hoped for by the civil liberties lobby (see Statewatch vol 3, no 6). Broadcasters must still take account of Section 18 which prohibits the broadcasting of any material likely to undermine the authority of the state or to incite crime. The Radio Telefis Eireann (RTE) Authority has drawn up new guidelines controlling interviews with Sinn Fin.
Section 31 was first invoked in 1971 when the government of the day (Fianna Fail) directed RTE not to broadcast anything which might promote the aims and activities of organisations engaged in violence. When interviews with leading republicans continued to be broadcast, the government sacked the entire RTE authority. The next development was to issue an order naming organisations whose members could not be interviewed. This was introduced under an amendment to the Act in 1976 by the then Minister, Conor Cruise O'Brien. As well as banned organisations such as the IRA (illegal in the South since 1939), the list included Sinn Fein, a legal political party, and any person or party political broadcast which advocated support for Sinn Fein. While Section 31 has been in force it has encouraged a censorship culture within RTE which involved challenging legal rulings which appeared to authorise a more liberal interpretation of the Ministerial order, as well as the sacking of staff, the banning of advertisements and the curtailment of the coverage of any social or political issues which members of Sinn Fein might be involved in, such as the anti-heroin movement in Dublin.
The lifting of the Ministerial order from 20 January has not removed that censorship culture. Individual politicians continue to refuse to appear on programmes alongside representatives of Sinn Fein. The new RTE guidelines require all interviews with Sinn Fein to be pre-recorded. Any proposal to include such interviews in a programme must be referred to divisional heads and on to the director general if needs be. The way Sinn Fein is singled out in the guidelines will almost certainly give rise to a legal challenge. The Independent Radio and Television Commission's guidelines, in contrast to RTE's, call for a flexible interpretation and a strong presumption against censorship. Not surprisingly, it was an independent radio station which celebrated the ending of the Ministerial order by interviewing Gerry Adams, President of Sinn Fein, at 8.00am on 20 January.
The lifting of Section 31 has put renewed focus on the British broadcasting ban. The contrast between British and US electronic media was brought into sharp focus by the coverage given to Adams' 48 hour visit to New York at the beginning of February. On arrival, Adams was interviewed on the "Larry King Live" chat show, networked throughout the US. The show is normally broadcast via satellite to Europe, but because of the British broadcasting ban it was blacked out on this occasion. NBC Super Channel followed CNN's example by censoring its Today programme. CNN and NBC Super Channel both use the Astra satellite whose owners are based in Luxembourg. In a letter to The Guardian, Niall Meehan, lecturer in the School of Communications at Dublin City University, suggests that the British broadcasting ban effectively means interference with a broadcast signal emanating from a satellite owned outside Britain. This may well breach European law, he argues. If on the other hand the ban is legal then it means that "any country in Europe, the Middle East or Africa can effectively impose an international censorship".
Purcell B. "The Silence in Irish Broadcasting" in Rolston B, (ed) The Media and Northern Ireland: Covering the Troubles, London: Macmillan 1991; Guardian 2.2.94 5.2.94; An Phoblacht, 20.1.94 27.1.94.