Irish Censor Steps Down
Irish Censor Steps Down
November 24, 2009
After six years at the helm, Ireland's chief media classifier John Kelleher has stepped down from his post.
As Director of the Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO), the 65-year old Kelleher banned only one videogame out of the 8,000 submitted during his reign, Manhunt 2. The IFCO typically does not rate videogames however, only doing so if they are deemed prohibitable, otherwise rating chores are handled by Pan American Game Information (PEGI).
Speaking to the Irish Times, Kelleher said that his biggest achievement was changing the name of his office from the Irish Film Censor’s Office to its current designation as the Irish Film Classification Office. The change was made to better reflect the actual work of the office.
Kelleher stated:
I don’t believe in film censoring for adults, I believe in film classification for minors. I hope that people realised that I was trying to ensure that adults could look after themselves, that it was the welfare of children which was paramount.
Current IFCO Deputy Director Ger Connolly will take over for Kelleher on an interim basis.
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Posted 02/09/10 at 07:00am
Austin_Lewis: That Alabama school shooting is supposedly gang related, according to the shooter's lawyer.
Austin_Lewis: That Alabama school shooting is supposedly gang related, according to the shooter's lawyer.
Posted 02/08/10 at 10:22pm
JDKJ: Landrieu. That's a good Cajun name. I ga-run-tee.
JDKJ: Landrieu. That's a good Cajun name. I ga-run-tee.
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Posted 02/08/10 at 02:22pm
Valdearg: J/K, btw, with that last comment. Just in case anyone was confused.
Valdearg: J/K, btw, with that last comment. Just in case anyone was confused.
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:21pm
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Posted 02/08/10 at 02:20pm
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Posted 02/08/10 at 02:04pm
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Austin_Lewis: John Murtha reportedly deceased.
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Posted 02/08/10 at 01:04pm
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Posted 02/08/10 at 01:02pm
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gellymatos: Oh, we pro-life advocates have our nutjuobs to (ie, guys who shoot up abortion clincs). We can have worse ones than yours.
gellymatos: Oh, we pro-life advocates have our nutjuobs to (ie, guys who shoot up abortion clincs). We can have worse ones than yours.
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Shadow D. Darkman: Finally, new articles!
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Posted 02/08/10 at 12:57pm
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Posted 02/08/10 at 12:52pm
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gellymatos: ...predict such a bad move by what is not considered a stupid group.
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gellymatos: How can you script someone boycotting the super bowl over such a trivial ad. An ad they must have seen before hand. You can't...
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Valdearg: There are plenty of bright people in Marketing, and this struck me as too perfect, and too scripted to have been just a byproduct of some lucky stroke of luck on FotF's part.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:46pm
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Posted 02/08/10 at 12:41pm
DarkSaber: Ah right here we go again, someone disagrees with Val therefore they don't know what they are talking about.
DarkSaber: Ah right here we go again, someone disagrees with Val therefore they don't know what they are talking about.
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Comments
"As Director of the Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO), the 65-year old Kelleher banned only one videogame out of the 8,000 submitted during his reign, Manhunt 2."
Which, in my mind, makes him a failure. Especially in light of what he's qoted as saying at the end of the article.
Andrew Eisen
"The IFCO typically does not rate videogames however, only doing so if they are deemed prohibitable"
Prohibitable as in by law. That's not the Boards fault, that's the Irish governments if they have law that makes Manhunt 2's content illegal. It's not the same as in the UK where the BBFC can refuse a classification and have the law on their side, the Irish board have to classify according to the law instead.
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
Doesn't make it any less wrong in my mind.
Andrew Eisen
So you'd blame a policeman for enforcing a law you don't agree with too?
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
Blame? No, I'm not placing blame. I'm saying this guy failed to live up to what he believes in. I understand why he failed, but the why doesn't change anything when the result is the same.
Andrew Eisen
So what was the ban's motivation? Seeing as how you say he failed, I'm sure you can explain why the ban was incorrect given his beliefs.
In my book, banning a video game automatically makes you a failure. Doubly so when you purport to not believe in censorship for adults but do believe in classification for children. Of course, in the quote I'm referencing, he's referring to film, not video games but he still banned at least one film so he's still a failure in my mind.
Then again, maybe all the banning happened before he developed his stated belief. Maybe the parameters of his job left him with no choice other than to ban at least one film and one game.
Doesn't matter to me. At the end of the day, the man banned a film and a game. That should never happen. I don't care if it's the law. I don't care if it's your job. Do that, and in my mind you're a failure. Just my opinion.
Andrew Eisen
So you don't give a damn about why people do something, if you disagree with what they do their motivation is irrelevant. Check.
It depends on what it is that that person did.
Andrew Eisen
Well, Andrew, in this particular case, it's OBEYING THE LAW.
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He was dead when I got here.
And as I've already stated, I don't care. Banning a game or movie is wrong*, even if the law forces you to do it.
Andrew Eisen
*Barring some incredibly far fetched extenuating circumstances.
In a heartbeat.
A couple of years ago, NC joined the Powerball lottery.
To encourage people to play the NC lottery, the state formally made it public that they were going to outlaw playing the video casino machines and outlaw operating such businesses (there has been a bit of slacking in such legislation, but in the beginning, it was harshly designed).
Local law enforcement leaders started openly referring to EVERYONE who played the video game casino machines as "criminals". Painting them as all forms of evil and implying that just playing the machines meant that the players were most likely into other forms of crime.
Yet, despite the fact that the lottery is just as much gambling as the video machines, and even has warnings and links to gambler's anonymous on the main website, law enforcement had no negative opinions about those who played the state sanctioned gambling system, the lottery.
To me, this makes the law enforcement agencies look like "mob enforcement" for the state. Criminalize one form of gambling and push out those in the video casino business, while sanctioning another form of gambling that is promoted by the state itself.
In addition to that example, I also condemn the law enforcement support for things such as "sovereign immunity" which has been used to protect various Board of Education systems from prosecution for their covering up of various abuses against children in various public schools.
While law enforcement should enforce the law in general, there are clearly times when it puts the government ahead of the best interest of the citizens which they are, supposedly, sworn to protect.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
http://www.facebook.com/nightwing2000
Nightwng2000 is now admin to the group "Parents For Education, Not Legislation" on MySpace as http://groups.myspace.com/pfenl
Not really- he says he doesn't want film censorship- he doesn't say anything about games... ;P
/b
You noticed that, too?
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He was dead when I got here.
One can not classfiy media by banning it........
Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy! Stop supporting big media and furthering the criminalization of consumers!! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
"Pan American"?
/b
Furdian slip? Or hangover?
Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy! Stop supporting big media and furthering the criminalization of consumers!! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/