MURPHY v. IRELAND JUDGMENT 13 24 November 1993, Series A no. 276) of a paid advertisement (Vgt Verein gegen Tierfabriken v. Switzerland, no. 24699/94, ECHR 2001-VI) which promoted a religious event and beliefs (Otto-Preminger-Institut v. Austria, judgment of 20 September 1994, Series A no. 295-A and Wingrove v. the United Kingdom, judgment of 25 November 1996, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1996-V) and which contained no political or “public interest” element. In such circumstances, particular deference had to be paid to the domestic authorities' assessment in that they were uniquely positioned to identify and assess the strength of the relevant vital forces within Irish society which dictated the correct balance between the competing interests involved. Accordingly, if the Minister introducing section 20(4) of the 1960 Act, which was subsequently applied by section 10(3) of the 1988 Act to the independent radio and television stations, was of the view that the Irish population was unwilling to tolerate any religious advertising, then the State should be allowed to restrict such advertising. 38. As to the religious nature of the relevant advertisement, the Government accepted that the advertisement appeared innocuous and that it was to some extent simply informational. However, they pointed out that it was also based on an evident belief in, and the propagation of, certain religious beliefs. In any event, it was simply the religious nature of the advertisement that constituted sufficient justification for its restriction. The Government observed that the rights of an individual to express religious beliefs were necessarily determined and limited by reference to the Article 9 rights of others (Larissis and Others v. Greece, judgment of 24 February 1998, Reports, §§ 63-64). Moreover, the Convention clearly applied, in the Government's view, a distinct standard to the control of religious expression so that religious offence was a legitimate basis for the prohibition of otherwise acceptable and protected speech. This was explained by the fact that religious belief was not the subject of reasoned decision making: rather it presented an intensely personal and private matter and concerned deeply held and profoundly important convictions. Consequently, the simple proclamation of the truth of one religion necessarily proclaims the untruth of another. As such even innocuous religious expression can lead to volatile and explosive reactions. Moreover, the Government underlined the particularly country-specific religious sensitivities in Ireland, noting the description of such concerns by the domestic courts in the present case. It might have been that there was no contemporary religious disharmony in Ireland. However, religious division had characterised Irish history, a history which included proselytising and the creation of legal and social systems to undermine one religion. That historical context, the current manifestation of religious division in Northern Ireland together with the fact that the vast majority of the Irish population adhered to a religion (indeed, to one dominant religion) entitled the State in 1960 and again in 1988 to apprehend unusual sensitivity to religious issues