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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 25 Apr 1945

Vol. 96 No. 23

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Death Notices and Censorship.

asked the Minister for the Co-ordination of Defensive Measures if he will state if obituary notices have been censored in certain cases in respect of the place of death or quotations from the Scriptures; and, if so, in what circumstances.

The answer to the Deputy's question is: yes; propaganda for and against both sets of belligerents has been deleted from obituary notices from time to time.

Arising out of the Minister's reply, I do not see how the place of death could be regarded as propaganda, and as regards cutting out half of a sentence, and putting the other half of the sentence in, which is meaningless, I do not understand how the Minister can pretend that a Scriptural quotation is propaganda. Why does the Minister contend, as regards the sentence: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends"—that half of that is all right and the whole of it is propaganda?

The Deputy has asked me a supplementary question which, I take it, is only half of the story, and the half which he has given me is meant to be propaganda. The Deputy asked a general question. I gave him as full an answer as I was in a position to give. If he gives me a specific case, I shall inquire into it. I have the greatest respect for men who die for their friends, for the sake of their friends, and I have the greatest sympathy with their relatives; but we have got to understand that if we are, as we had to during this war, to prevent our people being worked upon by propaganda from various belligerents, we have not only to stop the propaganda in the ordinary course, but we have also to prevent some people not interested in men who die making use of obituary notices to forward propaganda in favour of the belligerent they desire to favour.

Does the Minister consider that the place of death and a sentence from the Scriptures are propaganda?

I believe when anybody tries to make out that the Censor was actuated by any anti-religious motives, that that is propaganda and I think when anybody here tries to make that sort of propaganda, having taken damn good care themselves that their people would keep out of the war, that is despicable.

Arising out of the Minister's statement, I never suggested that there was any religious significance in it. I suggest that it is purely the act of the Censor, and the Minister has not answered my question. How can he make out that half of that sentence of Scripture, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends", is right, and the whole of it is wrong?

I have told the Deputy that if he gives me a specific case to inquire into, I will send him a reply. All I can say in regard to the general question is that anyone has only to look up the obituary notices of the last five-and-a-half years, during which there was a censorship in operation, and he will see that half of the obituary notices have attached to them in one form or another passages from the Scripture or prayers or some other form of words of that description.

May I ask what is wrong with putting, in some of these obituary notices, "Killed in action"? That has, to my knowledge, been censored. I want to know why.

We were not in the war, and I think if we do anything here to make a pretence that this nation was in the war, it will be much worse for our people. We have been respected, and are respected, by people whose judgment is worth while, for the stand we took, and we cannot be playing Tadh a'dá thaobh.

"Killed in action" could not be translated into an offence against any neutrality.

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