April 16th, 2010
The Irish government has been engaged in high level discussions
on introducing technology to censor websites, according to documents obtained by campaign group
Digital Rights Ireland through a Freedom of Information request, and seen by the Irish Times. The exact nature of the Government discussions cannot be determined as Digital Rights Ireland was refused access to many documents by the Department of Justice. However, the extent of government interest in censorship is indicated by the
list of documents that were refused. For example, one refused item details a meeting between the department and Vodafone on the “introduction of internet filtering in Ireland”. The potential scope of such technologies is evidenced by a refused document in which documents relating to the blocking of child pornography websites were forwarded to the official in the Department of Justice in charge of casino gaming regulation.
April 7th, 2010
APRIL 29 2010 – 2PM
MAKING POLITICAL FILMS ABOUT THE NORTH: THEN AND NOW
The troubles in the North of Ireland have long been the subject of film-makers. The film-making landscape has changed over the years, as has the political landscape. Both self censorship and political censorship have been key factors in defining which films get made and which don’t. The panel will discuss selected issues relating to censorship — what forms of censorship influence the work being made? is there any difference to the types of films being made 30 years ago and now?
The panel will include:
Mark Cousins director of The First Movie, screening at the Belfast Film Festival, has a first class degree in Film and Media Studies and Fine Art from the University of Stirling. He has since lectured on film history, been published internationally and made documentary films on arts and political themes. A former Director of the Edinburgh Film Festival, he now presents Scene-by-Scene on BBC television, conducting career interviews with actors and directors including Martin Scorcese, Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Shohei Imamura, Jack Lemmon, Sean Connery, Tom Hanks, Dennis Hopper, Kirk Douglas, Rod Steiger, Jeanne Moreau, Lauren Bacall, the Coen Brothers, Bernardo Bertolucci, David Cronenberg, David Lynch, Donald Sutherland, Ewan McGregor and Jayne Russell. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.
James Flynn commenced his career in the Irish film industry with John Boorman’s Merlin Films International as Head of Development having previously worked for the Investment Bank of Ireland. After working as Business Manager of the fledgling Irish Film Board, he, along with Juanita Wilson, established Metropolitan Film Productions Limited with the intention of making strong, independent and resonant films for the international market. In-house projects developed and produced by Metropolitan Films include H3 and Nora.
He established Octagon Films in 2002. Octagon developed and produced Inside I’m Dancing, written by Jeffrey Caine (Goldeneye, The Constant Gardener) and directed by Damien O’Donnell (East Is East, Heartlands). Produced in conjunction with Working Title/Universal, it won the Audience Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and was released in the UK and Ireland by Momentum Pictures in autumn ‘04. It was screened as Rory O’Shea Was Here at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and subsequently released in the U.S. by Focus. He is currently jointly producing Neil Jordan’s Ondine, starring Colin Farrell, in West Cork this summer and this will be released internationally during the Summer and/or Autumn of 2009.
For more information please visit their website http://www.belfastfilmfestival.org
January 15th, 2010
Barrister Louis Blom-Cooper has settled in a
libel action brought against him by Birmingham six pair Hugh Callaghan and Gerry Hunter at the Dublin High Court. Hunter and Callaghan claimed that a 1997 pamphlet by Blom-Cooper, The Birmingham Six and Other Cases, had implied that they could be guilty of carryimg out the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings, in which 21 people were killed.
Blom-Cooper has apologised for any “unintended suggestion” of guilt. Other elements of the settlement cannot be revealed.
Ireland has one of the most expensive libel jurisdictions in Europe.
July 23rd, 2009
Irish president Mary McAleese has signed the Defamation Bill 2006 and the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009 into law. The Defamation Bill updates Ireland’s defamation law, aims to encourage quicker apologies from publishers and renews the offence of blasphemy provided for under 1960s legislation, while the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009 allows for the greater use of non-jury trials in suspected gangland criminal cases. Both have proved controversial with the Defamation Bill provoking outcry over its inclusion of a charge of blasphemous libel. Read more
here
July 8th, 2009
Ireland’s new blasphemy legislation has been passed through the Dáil as part of the Defamation Bill. The Bill will now go to the upper house, the Seanad
July 7th, 2009
The government should not be creating new laws to enforce provisions written in the reactionary 1930s, says Michael Nugent
(more…)
April 30th, 2009
Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has defended a proposal to introduce new legislation on blasphemy. Read more
here
April 29th, 2009
The Irish government’s plan to introduce blasphemy legislation may seem a retrograde step, but it is part of a broader global trend, writes Padraig Reidy
(more…)
