Through a Glass, Darkly ... Reflections on Secrecy and Censorship in Ireland

Censorship, whether justifiable or not, is first and foremost a denial of a part of reality. In Ireland traditionally, it has been about the denial of the sensual. Today, less so. Our censors in 1993 are concerned predominantly with the consequences of sex and the causes of political violence. Above all, they are driven by the conviction that supposedly unshakeable value systems will fail the test of contact with the harshness of real life, and that people are so weak-willed, that they, like children, must be protected from their baser instincts, for their own good. People must be protected from making \u27wrong\u27 decisions. But, the tide is turning, and, to a great extent, the 1992 election could be interpreted as an appraisal on the charmed, closed, golden circles of our rulers who have looked into their hearts and known what the Irish people \u27really\u27 wanted