It seems inconceivable in this day and age that a supposedly democratic government would seriously advance plans to appoint a State Press Council to monitor the conduct of its country's newspapers, journalistic standards, and deal with complaints against the Press. Yet that is what the Government of the Twenty-six county Republic of Ireland is being warned against doing.

The Alliance of Independent Press Councils of Europe is urging the Irish Government to drop its plan to establish such a state agency.

In a strongly worded denouncement of the Government's intentions, AIPEC said such a government controlled press council would diminish press freedom and undermine the independence of Irish newspapers. If the Government succeeded, it would be going against the trend in Europe and most of the world.

At its annual meeting in Stockholm, the Alliance said the Government should work with the National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI) association towards the establishment of a truly independent press council, free from interest of the State.

It was Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau who coined the memorable phrase "There is no place for the State in the bedrooms of the nation." Trudeau was the principal architect of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Many people fought, and some died, for the right to a free Press. Thanks to William Cobbett, Francis Collins, and Arthur Griffith, an Englishman, a Canadian, and an Irishman, and to a host of others, we enjoy a Press free from government control. Any attempt to diminish freedom of the Press must be exposed, condemned, and resisted.

There is no place for the State in the news rooms of a nation, be it only a Twenty-six and not a complete Thirty-two county nation.

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