Copyright 1990 Newspaper Publishing PLC
The Independent (London)
October 19, 1990, Friday
SECTION: HOME NEWS PAGE; Page 7
LENGTH: 714 words
HEADLINE: Sinn Fein concedes impact of TV ban; Today is the second anniversary of the broadcasting ban on Sinn Fein and 10 other Irish republican and loyalist organisations. David McKittrick examines the working of the restrictions
BYLINE: By DAVID MCKITTRICK
BODY:
TWO YEARS after the introduction of the ban designed to keep republican voices off the airwaves, both the authorities and Sinn Fein itself agree that the regulations have had a significant impact.
The Government also takes the view that it is easily containing the civil libertarian campaign against the restrictions. The ban works.
During the 1970s, one of the standard features of speeches by Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland was a declaration that the IRA had the support of only a tiny minority of extremists, and a challenge to the gunmen to put representatives forward for election.
That particular rhetorical flourish was dropped in the 1980s after Sinn Fein changed its policies and started contesting elections. It was quickly established that a party acknowledging itself to be the political wing of the IRA could rely on the votes of more than one in three nationalist voters.
Its foray into the political arena posed major problems for the Government. Ministers will not meet Sinn Fein representatives, though government departments do respond to their correspondence. Despite Unionist pressure Sinn Fein has not been banned, although its offices are often raided by the RUC and Army.
The broadcasting ban - which prevents the broadcasting of words spoken by Sinn Fein representatives, or of words spoken in support of it - was one of a number of anti-Sinn Fein measures brought forward.
Some, such as last year's requirement for all candidates in council elections to renounce violence, have been completely ineffectual. The broadcasting ban is, however, a different matter.
According to Richard McAuley of Sinn Fein: ''It has not been successful in the objective of undermining our electoral base. But in terms of minimising interest in Britain, and denying people in Britain access to information about Ireland, I think it has been successful. It has had an impact.''
Sources within government deny it was ever thought that the ban would significantly bring down the Sinn Fein vote. In terms of its impact on broadcasting, however, the ban is considered a resounding success in keeping Sinn Fein off television.
Unmoved by civil libertarian arguments based on the importance of free speech, the mood within government seems close to self-congratulation that a measure which some had feared would be counter-productive has proved so effective.
The National Union of Journalists runs an anti-ban campaign and is pursuing a legal challenge. But some in authority actually share the Sinn Fein view that broadcasters have been overcautious and shown little appetite for challenging the regulation. As one source put it: ''The campaign against the restrictions seems to have no real weight. I think if they'd really wanted to test them to breaking point they could have put a lot more pressure on.''
Statistics demonstrate the practical effects of the ban. According to the Glasgow University Media Group, Sinn Fein representatives appeared on network television news 93 times in the 12 months before the ban. In the following 12, this fell to 34.
The figure for the last year, according to Richard McAuley, was even lower, though exact figures were not available since, he said, the details had been taken by the RUC and Army when they raided Sinn Fein offices.
He added: ''We find broadcasters increasingly reluctant to do interviews with Sinn Fein, or even to carry statements from us. The number of interviews is still going down, and so is their duration. Before the ban you might have got 30 to 50 seconds to make a point, but now that seems to be halved.
''There's also a certain ripple effect, which is hard to quantify exactly, in the written press. For example, one journalist based in Belfast did an interview with Gerry Adams but his editor in London wouldn't carry it, on the basis that to do so was to give oxygen to terrorists.''
Long before the ban was introduced, Tory and Labour governments acknowledged the power of television and sought to influence its presentation of Northern Ireland: many programmes have been banned or cut, often amid controversy.
The bottom line, for the ban's critics and supporters alike, is that it is the most effective weapon yet wielded by a government to impose its will on broadcasters.