In 1988, following a wave of IRA atrocities, the British Government introduced a Broadcasting Ban, silencing Sinn Féin and other loyalist and republican paramilitary groups by forbidding broadcasters to allow anyone affiliated with these bodies to speak on television or radio. Bizarrely, however, a legal loophole allowed broadcasters to circumvent the ban by simply employing actors to re-voice the original sequences. Using unseen archive footage and present-day interviews with key figures such as Gerry Adams and Stephen Rea, The Ban reflects on the British government’s use of the threat of ‘terrorism’ to justify censorship, drawing inevitable comparisons with the present.

Followed by a Q&A with Róisín Agnew, Stephen Rea, and Danny Morrisson, hosted by Trevor Birney.

Notes by Sunniva O’Flynn

Screening as part of IFI Documentary Festival 2024.