In the forceful sermon on gambling which he preached in St. Patrick's Cathedral on Sunday last, the Most Rev. Dr Gregg, Archbishop of Dublin, had a quiet tilt at the proposed censorship of literature in the Free State. After referring to the manner in which certain newspapers "pander to the gambling craze in the most corrupting way" in connection with racing, his Grace declared that some control in the matter undoubtedly was needed, but suggested that "our legislators would hardly care to face the risk of censoring Press matter which so many people want to read."
The Belfast Corporation joyously undertook such a risk some twenty years ago - and that, despite the fact that one of its most prominent members, who had been Lord Mayor several times, was a local newspaper proprietor. For weeks all the newspapers exhibited in the Corporation's public libraries had the sporting columns "blacked out," and as the "black" extended itself throughout the pages after a paper had been in use for an hour, it presented a revolting spectacle. Eventually, however, the Corporation realised the futility of their limited censorship, and the fearsome smudges of black disappeared from the free library papers, but not before the city fathers had been subjected to a good deal of ridicule.
The Irish Times,
February 26th, 1929.