asked the President whether he is aware that the premises of certain newsagents and distributors of newspapers were visited by members of the Gárda Síochána on Monday July 11th, that in certain cases instructions were issued by such members prohibiting the distribution and sale of certain newspapers published in Great Britain or Northern Ireland, and that in some cases copies of such newspapers were seized, and what steps does he propose to take to compensate such newsagents and distributors for the loss and inconvenience caused to them by such seizures.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Seizure of Newspapers Under Official Secrets Act Order.
asked the President whether he is aware that certain newspapers published in Great Britain or Northern Ireland were seized and examined by Customs officials and/or members of the Gárda Síochána at Dun Laoghaire, North Wall and Northern frontier posts on Monday last, and that copies of such of the said newspapers as had published the correspondence between the Governor-General and the President were seized and the distribution of further publication thereof prohibited and what steps he proposes to take to compensate for the loss sustained.
asked the President whether it is a fact that members of the Gárda Síochána on Monday last accosted certain newsvendors in the town of Lifford who were bringing their usual supplies of newspapers from Strabane, obtained a copy of each paper from them and issued instructions prohibiting their sale until they had been censored by the local sergeant and whether he intends to take any steps to compensate such newsvendors for their losses thereby incurred.
I would like to take Nos. 4, 5 and 6 together.
Certain premises were visited as stated in the third question. A warning was issued that the distribution of papers containing copies or abstracts of the correspondence in question would be attended with the risk of proceedings for publishing confidential official documents. At Dun Laoghaire no papers were seized. Copies of the papers were submitted by the agents to the police for examination. At the North Wall there was no seizure and no examination; no papers appear to have been imported at that point on the morning in question. So far as I am aware the Customs officials neither seized nor examined any papers at any point. At some points on the Six County Border some papers appear to have been kept for some time in police custody. At Lifford copies of the English papers were examined by the police and the newsvendors jointly, and the newsvendors having been warned as to the danger of publishing confidential official documents decided not to circulate the few editions which contained copies or abstracts of the correspondence in question. These papers were subsequently taken from the newsvendors by the Superintendent. On the facts before me there is not any liability to compensate any newsagent, distributor or other person.
Were certain English newspapers prevented from coming into the Saorstát at Dun Laoghaire?
I have got no information on that point. Perhaps the Deputy would care to ask a separate question, but I have not information further than what is contained here. As the Deputy will know, this has been supplied to me as the information obtainable from the appropriate Department.
I should like to know what right had the Superintendent to interfere with the publication, distribution and entrance of papers into the Saorstát over the Border?
If it is thought that a person is about to commit a possible wrong, the police have a right to warn him of the possible consequences.
Would the President state what was the possible wrong which the newsvendor or news distributor was about to commit?
The publication of correspondence which had been definitely declared to be secret State correspondence.
I should like to know by what authority those documents were declared to be secret State documents, and under what section is the publishing of those documents an offence? I am not talking of having the documents in your possession, but the publication of them.
The Public Safety Act.
We did not have to appeal to that Act. The Executive Council had communications with the Governor-General which the Executive Council regarded as of the character indicated in our note, that is, confidential State documents.
Why?
Because, as the Deputy knows, any correspondence of that character is, in fact, confidential and is a State document, and nobody has a right to publish it without the permission of the Government.
I did not yet hear from the President who issued instructions to the Gárda or the Gárda officers to have these papers seized, and, if such instructions were issued, under what authority were they issued?
I have already said that they were not seized.
Were any instructions issued to the Gárda or Customs officers to examine newspapers coming in—particularly coming in through the post on that day? Because, I think that ordinarily they would not do it.
No, not ordinarily. I have no doubt that the Minister for Justice informed the police authorities that there was likely to be a publication of the documents that had been declared by the Executive Council to be confidential State documents and that he gave the instructions which would correspond to the action that was taken, as indicated by my reply to questions 2 and 3, which would correspond to the action taken by the police authorities, namely, calling the attention of the editors to the relevant passages.
Does the President deny the statements made in the public Press that Guards boarded the train at Dundalk and snatched individual copies of papers from citizens who were reading them?
I have said in my reply to Nos. 4, 5 and 6 that at some points on the Border papers appear to have been kept for some time in police custody. That is the information I have got.
On whose orders?
No. 7.
I want to ask the Minister——
Deputies:
Order, order.
Keep the hooligans quiet anyhow.
A Deputy:
The Chair has kept you quiet.
Oh, shut up.