Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations petition re 1926 Census release.

[Sinann]

I am not so sure of that. The BBC say otherwise.

[Sinann]

The act wasn't in place at the time the census was taken.
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-irishman-s-diary-1.1081733

You can argue that the rule still applies as it was put in place later but not that the people in 1926 were given that promise.

[Wexflyer]

The act wasn't in place at the time the census was taken.
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-irishman-s-diary-1.1081733

You can argue that the rule still applies as it was put in place later but not that the people in 1926 were given that promise.

You have been misinformed.
The 1926 census was performed under regulations made in accordance with the Statistics Act, 1926.
The Statistics Act is available online. Section 13(1) gives a time unlimited commitment that the information gathered under the Act would not be published without the consent of the individuals concerned.
The text of the relevant Section is as follows:
"13.—(1) No individual schedule, form, or other document filled in or otherwise completed by any person in pursuance of any requisition made under this Act and no part of any such document and no verbal information or answer given relating to any individual person, business or concern shall without the consent of such person be published or, except for the purposes of a prosecution under this Act, be shown or communicated to any person other than an officer of statistics concerned therewith in the course of his duty as such officer."

[hallmark]

Irish statistics were compiled under the provisions of the Statistics Acts, 1926 and 1946 up until 1 November 1994 when the Statistics Act, 1993 came into operation.  https://www.cso.ie/en/aboutus/lgdp/legislation/statisticsact1993/

[Wexflyer]

Irish statistics were compiled under the provisions of the Statistics Acts, 1926 and 1946 up until 1 November 1994 when the Statistics Act, 1993 came into operation.  https://www.cso.ie/en/aboutus/lgdp/legislation/statisticsact1993/

I don't see how this affects in any way the fact that the 1926 Census was performed under the 1926 Statistics Act, which Act contains a provision for absolute confidentiality. The Act specifically prohibits release of the information obtained. Mr Smyrl's assertion in the Letter you linked to is simply incorrect.

[hallmark]

Never said or implied it did!!

[Sinann]

That was so people wouldn't lie on the Census for fear of prosecution, it doesn't apply to the 100 year rule.

[CBGenealogy]

Sinann is right. The people had no notion of a 100 year seal and wouldn't have cared in a time when people barely reached 70 on average. 1901 and 1911 were released in the 1960s so there is already a precedent for early release.

The Central Statistics Office is using this to avoid the issue. Regardless of whether it gets an "early" release or becomes available in 2026, the CSO needs to be working on it now. The earlier two were already microfilmed so when it came to digitisation, one step was complete. 1926 is still a lot of boxes of paper, albeit omitting the 6 NI counties, it's a massive undertaking.

They also need to get used to the idea of releasing a new census every 10 years (and then every 5 once we hit 1956).

[Wexflyer]

Sinann is right. The people had no notion of a 100 year seal and wouldn't have cared in a time when people barely reached 70 on average.

Really? Then why is "STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL", in capitals, plastered across the census forms?
Try as you might, it is simply untrue to claim, as some are doing in the media, that there was no promise of confidentiality. There was. In statute law. On the forms themselves.