A Sinn Féin office in Kilrea, Co Derry, sent a Christmas card to the social security office in Coleraine. Photograph: iStockIt would be “a step too far to require office managers to censor Christmas cards”, a government department in Northern Ireland was advised in a legal opinion on a row over a Sinn Féin Christmas card in 2004. This was not a Sinn Féin poster or a Sinn Féin calendar. It was simply a Christmas card which happen [sic] to come from a Sinn Féin branch on behalf of an elected representative and was no doubt one of many Christmas cards received by the Social Security Office. “It would in my mind be a step too far to require office manager to censor Christmas cards to ensure that none of their donors was an individual who might possibly offend one or more members of staff.

Source: The Irish Times December 30, 2025 19:37 UTC