Sex Pistols Were Considered 'Serious Moral Threat' To Ireland

The Sex Pistols were considered a major threat to Ireland’s traditional moral values in the 1970s, it has emerged.

State papers – published for the first time yesterday (December 30th) – reveal that the group were the subject of an Irish police investigation in 1978.

A garda (Irish police) memo voiced concern over whether the title of the band’s debut album, ‘Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols’, breached censorship laws.

"The title on the sleeve ... would indicate that the contents of the record is obscene," the note said.

The album was referred to country’s censorship board, who deemed that the title could breach the Indecent Advertisements Act.

Despite suggesting that a fine of IR£2 could be given to record stores who displayed the album sleeve, the penalty was never imposed.

The Irish police’s concern about The Sex Pistols came as the IRA was intensifying its bombing campaigns across the country.