Irish Film Classification Office


The Irish Film Classification Office is the organisation responsible for films, television programmes, and some video game classification and censorship within Ireland. Where restrictions are placed by the IFCO, they are legally binding.
Prior to 21 July 2008, the office was branded as the Irish Film Censor's Office, and was previously known as simply the Film Censor's Office, or, in legal references, the office of the Official Censor of Films, which was the official title of the head of the office prior to that date. The head of the office is the Director of Film Classification.

Background

The Irish Film Censor's Office was set up in 1923, in accordance with the . This law was amended in , , , and ; and a substantial revision of the law occurred in the which extended the remit of the office to the regulation of the video importation and supply industry. On 21 July 2008 the Civil Law Act 2008 came into force. Section 70 changes some of the provisions with regard censorship of films in the State. Section 71 renames the Film Censor as the Director of Film Classification and consequent to this, the Irish Film Censor's Office became the Irish Film Classification Office.

Staff

The office consists of 21 staff members:
The 10 assistant classifiers are paid €168 per day and are entitled to claim expenses on top of this. According to a freedom of information request granted to the Irish edition of the Sunday Times the assistant classifiers claimed €306,683 in fees and €52,569 of expenses in 2007; €339,608 in fees and €49,898 of expenses in 2008; and €162,263 in fees and €21,401 of expenses for the first half of 2009. This equates to a payment of approximately €60 per film rated.

Certificates

Introduction and early history

Before 1965, there were no certificates and all films were tailored for a general audience, resulting in several bans and cuts. As of 2004, 2,500 theatrical films had been banned and about 11,000 cut, largely from before the overhaul.
Public controversy over the office's harsh methods came to a head in late 1964 - in 1963 alone, 31 films were rejected and 156 were cut. Critically acclaimed hits were no exception - Dr. Strangelove was cut, including Ripper's reference to Communists trying to "sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids" with fluoridated water, and Irish-shot medical drama Of Human Bondage was banned due to the heroine dying of syphilis. Even after the ban was overturned the following year, it still received an over-18's certificate with cuts - nude sculptures made by Auguste Rodin were removed from the background of the title sequence.
The appointment of a new Justice Minister, Brian Lenihan, in October 1964 coincided with this outrage. He met with the Cinema and Theatre Association in November to consider their views and even proposed to view recently banned films, including Of Human Bondage. On 28 November, Lenihan announced he'd be appointing a new Film Appeals Board and would be able to reform censorship without changing existing legislation. - film correspondent Fergus Linehan pointed out that the 1923 Act explicitly supported age certification:
Lenihan announced the new Appeals board in January 1965, which came into effect on 18 January. Their main task was to begin enforcing limited certificates
, which were as follows, according to the Appeals Board chairman:
All bar the last are still enforced today under different names.

Cinematic certificates

The current cinematic certificates were announced on December 2004 at the European Conference of Film Classifiers in Paris and introduced on 1 January 2005. In November 2005, a public campaign was launched to raise awareness of them, including booklets, posters, stickers and an animated certificate produced by Brown Bag Films which drew attention to their relatively new website.
These were introduced on 1 September 1994:
From that date it was an offence to trade uncertified videos, which carried fines of up to £1000 and a maximum sentence of three years. Additional rates came in at £180 per rental title, £80 per sale title and £20 per advert/trailer. This limited the market, especially for London distributors whose releases previously went to Ireland automatically.
In 1996, the 12RA certificate was officially replaced by PG and 12, although releases still used it into the 2000s.
The current certificates for home video formats such as DVD and Blu-ray that are issued are:
A retired certificate only used on home video is:
File:IFCO_-_12RA_video_certificate.png|center

Standard cinematic-home video certification crossover

This is the crossover, or change, in a certificate that will happen when a film which has been shown in cinemas, is released on home video, but this only applies if:
Examples of the former include Bullet to the Head and the 40th anniversary edition of Halloween, which received 15 certificates individually but whose overall releases are classified 18.
The standard crossovers are as follows:
Cinema certificateHome video certificate
GG
PGPG
12A12
15A15
1615/18
1818

Note: The certificate "12RA" did not have a corresponding cinematic certificate, and thus, did not have a standard crossover.
If the two rules above apply to a film's home video release, then, generally, it will be re-rated completely, but this does not mean certificates will always coincide for all formats, as occasionally one edition will contain extra features while the other does not, causing one to be re-rated, and the other to take a Standard Crossover.

Home video

Until February 2009, the home video certificates were always the certificate surrounded by an octagon, followed by the words "FILM CENSOR'S OFFICE" and "OIFIG SCRÚDÓIR NA SCANNÁN", which were then surrounded by another, larger, octagon. The colours were cyan and white, but the order they appear in varied. Although the Office was renamed in July 2008, these continued to bear the old name until February 2009, when they were altered to read "IRISH FILM CLASSIFICATION OFFICE" and its Irish equivalent.

Video games

Unlike the BBFC in the UK, which prior to PEGI ratings becoming legally enforceable in the UK on 30 July 2012 rated video games that met certain criteria, the Irish Film Censor's Office does not usually rate video games, leaving ratings to PEGI, unless the game's content is deemed prohibitable under section 3 of the Act.
IFCO ratings for video games were introduced in 2001 and retired in 2003. Although the Silent Hill Collection was released in 2006, it contained re-releases of the second and third games, which were rated and released in 2001 and 2003 respectively.
Only 9 games have ever been submitted to and rated by the IFCO:
TitleYearCertificate
'200115
Silent Hill 2200115
'200218
'200215
'200215
Grand Theft Auto III 200318
Rockstar Games Double Pack: Grand Theft Auto 200318
Manhunt200318
200315
Silent Hill 3200318
The Silent Hill Collection 200618

Despite the lack of legally binding ratings, most video game retailers attempt to prohibit the sale of PEGI 18+ rated games to people under the age of 18, and prior to PEGI ratings the same was done with BBFC 18 ratings on games.
The only prohibition notice for a video game was issued for Manhunt 2 in 2007.

Appeals

All decisions made with regard to certification, may be appealed for up to 6 months after the certificate is initially issued. An appeal is issued to the Classification of Films Appeal Board.
Works may also be submitted for re-classification after seven years since the original certification have passed.
The most recent example of a appeal is The First Purge, which received an 18 certificate for strong bloody violence, sustained threat and disturbing scenes. The distributor argued the case for a 16 certificate:
After first being viewed on 15 June, it was re-viewed on 21 June when the Appeal Board stuck by the original decision.
Ger Connolly wrote back, explaining the decision in greater detail:

Previous appeals (excluding bans)

YearTitleOriginal certificateContent guidance/DetailsAppeal resultsRevised certificateCurrent certificate
1989The Karate Kid Part III15"Very, very violent" and "an evil influence for young audiences" according to head censor Sheamus Smith.
A spokesperson for Columbia TriStar said, "The first two Karate Kid films had 'under 12' certificates here and the new one has similar certificates in Britain and America. The films are very popular with young audiences".
The appeal viewing took place on 26 July and the decision, which was decided by a 4:1 ratio, pushed the release date back from mid-July to 4 August.		UpheldUnder 12's accompaniedPG
1989Ghostbusters IIUnder 12's accompaniedColumbia Tri-Star requested a General certificate.FailedPG
1990Look Who's Talking15Smith objected to the opening, showing sperm swimming in a womb, followed by the mother disclosing an affair with her married boss and that she was artificially inseminated.
The appeal viewing took place on 26 January.		UpheldUnder 12's accompanied15
1990'15Smith objected to the violence, including a gremlin being killed when it's pushed into a paper shredder.Failed12
1990Rocky V15Smith objected to the "extreme violence" of the final street fight.
UIP requested an Under 12's accompanied certificate and the decision was made unanimously.		Failed15
1991Thelma & Louise18Due to "frequent violence".Failed15
1991Dead Again18Upheld1518
1991Toy Soldiers18Viewed twice by the Appeal Board.Upheld1515
1991Boyz n the Hood18Failed18
1992Wayne's World15Had to go on release as a 15 because the new Appeals Board hadn't been appointed at the time. As soon as they were, it was submitted for review.UpheldUnder 12's accompaniedPG
1994Heaven & Earth18After the uncut version received an 18 certificate, Warner Bros. submitted the cut British version, and although Smith initially gave it an 18 too, his decision was overturned.
The appeal viewing took place on 16 February.
The British version was cut by 55s to reduce scenes of torture and sexual violence involving a female prisoner, which "left the emphasis on the tragic implications rather than the infliction of pain and degradation", and lowered the certificate from 18 to 15.		Upheld1518
1994Blown Away18Due to violence.
The appeal viewing took place on 10 August.		Failed1818
1996Some Mother's Son18Upheld1515
1999Wild Wild West15Upheld1212
2004Closer18Intense, explicit sexual dialogue, strong language, mild nudity.Failed-
2008'12ASustained battle sequences, with killing and injury, which while not gory, may still upset younger viewers.UpheldPG-
2008Inkheart12AModerate threat/frights and scary fantasy violence, some of which may disturb younger children.Failed-
2009Watchmen18Contains strong, visceral hyper-realistic violence, including one brutal sexual assault.Upheld16-
2009Orphan18Disturbing theme and content, depicted with underlying menace. Strong, gory horror violence.Upheld16-
2009Law Abiding Citizen18Vengeance thriller with strong, brutal, sadistic, bloody violence.Upheld16-
2009The Lovely Bones15AChild abduction and murder. Strong scenes of violence and its aftermath.Upheld12A-
2010The Hole15AHorror involved with confronting fear.Failed-
2012ParaNorman12AFrequent moderate frightening scenes.UpheldPG-
2012Lawless18Brutal gory violence.Upheld16-
2012Taken 215ASustained strong violence and sequences of intense threat.Upheld12A-
2013Safe Haven15AScenes of strong spousal violence. Brief moderate sex scene.Upheld12A-
2017Free Fire18Relentless bloody violence. Strong drugs use.Failed-
2018The First Purge18Strong bloody violence, sustained threat and disturbing scenes.Failed-
2018Bumblebee12AModerate violence.Failed-
2019Mid90s18Strong drugs use. Disturbing scenes and situations. Strong sex references.Upheld16-
2019Downton Abbey12ABrief homophobic reference.UpheldPG-

Refusals and bans

Films may be refused a certificate, e.g. on grounds of obscenity. Such films may not be shown in public cinemas or sold in shops, but are not ipso facto banned and have been shown at film festivals and art house clubs such as the Irish Film Theatre and Irish Film Institute. These may also show films which have not been submitted for certification, as the submission fee may be prohibitive if a film is screened only a few times at a small venue.
Prohibitions and revocations, with justification, are listed in the official gazette, Iris Oifigiúil, under the headings of PROHIBITION ORDER and REVOCATION ORDER.
Despite the recommendations in the 2000 review of certification that no further films be banned, bans are still occasionally issued, although usually overturned on appeal. Boy Eats Girl, a 2005 movie, was initially banned, with the option of a cut being provided to the producers. On appeal, the film was passed uncut, and granted a 15A rating, although the video certificate was raised to 18.
Movies which are never submitted for cinema release in Ireland are occasionally banned on attempted video releases, although only one such order was made in 2004, banning the pornographic Anabolic Initiations 5, with the appeals board upholding the censor's order. One order was issued in 2005, reiterating the ban on Deep Throat. The only order in 2006 banned the pornographic film Steal Runaway.
Films and videos prohibited by the Classifier/Censor include:
Titletypeyearlifted
I Spit on Your Gravefilm2010
Manhunt 2video game2007
I Love to Fantasizefilm2007
Love @ First Bytefilm2007
Wild Cardsfilm2007
From Dusk Til Pornfilm2007
Sizzling Sex Starsfilm2003
Swingers Vacation 2: Secret Gamesfilm2003
Vampire Vixensfilm2003
Blue Hotel: Caught in the Actfilm2003
Blue Matrixfilm2003
Bad Lieutenantfilm2003
Dracula's Dirty Daughtersfilm2003
Baise-moifilm2002
Better Sex III: How To Give a Woman Pleasurefilm2002
Dark Gardenfilm2002
Showgirlsfilm1995lifted 2017
Natural Born Killersfilm1994lifted 2001
Man Bites Dogfilm1992
Meet the Feeblesfilm1989
Monty Python's The Meaning of Lifefilm1983lifted 1990
Porky'sfilm1982lifted
The Evil Deadfilm1981lifted 2010
Monty Python's Life of Brianfilm1979lifted 1987
Debbie Does Dallasfilm1978
Emmanuellefilm1974lifted
Deep Throatfilm1972
A Clockwork Orangefilm1971lifted 1999
Get Carterfilm1971lifted
Brief Encounterfilm1945lifted
The Great Dictatorfilm1940lifted

For a more detailed list with dates and justification, see Film censorship in the Republic of Ireland#Banned films

Criticism

Like many systems of entertainment classification, the IFCO has received criticism for several decisions they have made in the past. The board has been described as too zealous and conservative. Many titles that receive 15 certificates from the BBFC are rated 18 by the IFCO. DVD examples include Kick-Ass and Black Swan. Rarer cinema examples include Free Fire and You Were Never Really Here.
However, the IFCO are more lenient with strong language than the BBFC are, especially with very strong language. Examples include Frost/Nixon and The Visitor receiving 15 certificates in the UK but PG's in Ireland despite the use of the stronger term 'motherfucker', and Gone Girl receiving an 18 in the UK but a 15 in Ireland despite four aggressive uses of 'cunt'. The 2014 documentary Red Army received a 15 in the UK but a 12A in Ireland for a single use of 'cocksucker'.
Three titles in particular drew criticism of the board: Election, But I'm a Cheerleader and Brokeback Mountain. All three were rated 18 in Ireland and 15 in the UK, although Brokeback Mountain was rated 16 for cinema release because the system is different than for video releases.
The IFCO is established on a statutory basis and thus the appeals procedure is final. Thus, when a film or video game is banned, there can be no further appeal, but the work may be resubmitted after seven years.