The publishers of In Dublin have circumvented the ban on the entertainment listings magazine by publishing an identical magazine entitled Dublin.
The magazine, available in newsagents today, has the same design, typography and editorial flavour as In Dublin. It also includes advertisements for "health studios". Such advertisements are thought to be the reason the Censorship of Publications board banned In Dublin for six months.
Dublin's publisher, Mr Mike Hogan, has also applied for a judicial review of the Censorship of Publication Board's decision to ban In Dublin.
The National Union of Journalists yesterday described the ban as "an attempt to drag Ireland back to the dark ages".
The union's Irish organiser, Mr Seamus Dooley, said the ban highlighted the need to repeal the 1929 and 1946 Censorship of Publications Acts. He said both Acts were "totally outdated and should be replaced by legislation more reflective of contemporary mores".
The union condemned the secretive manner in which the Censorship of Publications Board operated, and expressed the hope that the ban represented "the last gasp of a dinosaur".
The director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Mr Donnacha O'Connell, said the procedures adopted by the board were generally "from another era and are acutely outmoded in an information society. The system gives rise to serious concern about the value placed on freedom of expression", he said.
"Restrictions on speech, whether in commercial or other forms, are inclined to backfire. This type of decision will ultimately have the effect of increasing the dissemination of the information it purports to suppress," Mr O'Connell said.
However, he would not comment on the individual case of In Dublin, as court proceedings on the board's decision are pending.
The Vienna-based International Press Institute called on the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, to abolish the censorship board and issue a statement in support of the freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Ireland.
The institute said it was "dismayed that a progressive and democratic country like Ireland still maintains an institution such as the Censorship of Publications Board, the mere existence of which runs counter to the democratic principles of freedom of expression and Ireland's international legal obligations. It has no place in a democratic society."
Dublin's editorial content is similar to In Dublin and is dominated by entertainment listings and lifestyle features. Along with advertisements for health studios, Dublin also features ads for adult shops and sex changes.
On its contents page the magazine describes itself as having been "established in 1976", the year In Dublin was founded. The only other apparent reference to its predecessor is a line in the contents page which reads "Yes, the title is misleading, but where would you be without our recommendations for the fortnight and other stuff?"
