The CSO has alerted the Gardaí after the publication on social networks of extracts from the 1926 Census

THE CENTRAL STATISTICS OFFICE (CSO) has said it alerted An Garda Síochána and the National Archive to the publication of an excerpt from the 1926 Census on social media.

Publishing excerpts from the 1926 census is “a violation of the law and is strictly prohibited,” he said, urging people not to share the documents.

In a statement this afternoon, the CSO said that all census results from 1926 onward are closed to the public for 100 years in accordance with Section 35 of the Statistics Act of 1993.

Under the 100-year rule, the details of the 1926 census won’t be released until January 2027.

However, the OSC said excerpts from this census had been posted on social media and called for it to be removed and no longer shared.

He said today: “All census results from 1926 onwards are closed to the public for 100 years pursuant to Section 35 of the Statistics Act of 1993.

“Therefore, the OSC wishes to warn the general public and the media that the publication of the 1926 Census violates this legislation and is strictly prohibited and could result in possible sanction under Section 38 of that Act, in accordance with Section 7 (3) of the Act “.

The CSO also said that unauthorized disclosure of personal data is also a crime under Chapter 7 of the Data Protection Act of 2018, Section 145.

It is understood that the CSO has contacted the person who posted the material and agreed to remove it from social media.

Some details of the 1926 census are available online at the CSO.

This census was the first conducted by the newly established Irish Free State.

The census that was due to take place next year has been delayed until 2022 due to the pandemic.