Time to vote – Censorship overshadows polling day

IS there no end to Fianna Fáil’s arrogance? On the eve of today’s elections, it has emerged that the party engaged in blatant media censorship.

In a breath-taking display of political interference, the party approached the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland to suppress reports on issues of public interest.

This represents a heavy-handed interpretation of the customary pre-election broadcasting moratorium. In effect, radio stations were barred from reporting such matters as SIPTU’s refusal to co-operate with decentralisation and proposals to review the operation of garda stations.