Colin Sheridan: When an emergency is permanent

On September 2, 1939, the day after Germany invaded Poland, the Oireachtas had declared that a national emergency existed. Thirty-seven years later the Oireachtas finally revoked it, only to declare a new state of emergency on the very same day in response to the Troubles

In May 1940, people mill outside the offices of the Cork Examiner as they seek news about the German invasion of neutral Belgium and the Netherlands. The Emergency Powers Act allowed government to regulate supplies and transport, control property and communications, restrict movement and censor newspapers and periodicals.

Mon, 28 Sep, 2026 - 00:56

Colin Sheridan

Colin Sheridan is a writer and columnist. A former officer in the Irish Defence Forces he has extensive deployment experience as a peacekeeper with the United Nations, having lived and worked in the former Yugoslavia, West Africa, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine.

By September 1, 1976, Adolf Hitler had been dead for over 30 years. The Third Reich was gone. Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been destroyed and rebuilt.

Germany and Japan were allies of the West. Stalin had died. JFK had visited Ireland and been assassinated. The Beatles had formed, conquered the world and broken up. Men had walked on the moon.