State papers and the National Archives: The State files released to the media under the 30-year rule are just a small percentage of the files deposited in National Archives every year.
This year, almost 6,000 files were transferred from State Departments in time for examination by the media.
By the end of this year up to 200,000 files will have been transferred. Under the National Archives Act 1986, Government Departments and agencies are obliged to examine their records when they are 30-years-old, with a view to releasing them to the public.
If they do not wish to release them, they must give the reason for this decision.
Of the 6,000 files released to the media this year, about 1 per cent were withheld for various reasons. Personnel files are excluded for reasons of confidentiality.
Files can be withheld if they are in continuous use by the Department, if they are contrary to the public interest, or if they could cause distress or danger to a living person. They can also be withheld if they could cause a breach of statutory duty, where for example, someone mentioned in a file was assured of confidentiality.
Mr Tom Quinlan, head of records acquisition at the National Archives, said Government Departments had become more attuned to the idea of releasing information since the Freedom of Information Act was introduced.
"They don't have the same qualms as they had 10 or 15 years ago," he said.
Because Departments do not have to list the restricted files during the media preview, it's difficult to know what sort of files are being withheld.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is one of the few Departments to outline the files being restricted, and sometimes it is difficult to see why certain files are being withheld.
This year, the Department of Foreign Affairs forbade public access to files on the political situation in Nigeria.
A file on a DC10 air crash near Paris was also restricted. Information on community organisations in Northern Ireland was withheld, as was a file on "distressed seamen 1952-1968".
The Department of Foreign Affairs forbade public access to an intriguing file named "Complaint re article 'An Irishman's IQ' in brochure on Spain, January 1974".
The public was also prevented from viewing a file on a proposal to launch Bank of Wales in Ireland. A file on relations between Cuba and the Holy See would make interesting reading.
You can stumble across some unusual reading when you peruse the State Papers. A file "Musk Rats Act 1933 - its application to minks" documents efforts by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Charlie Haughey to eradicate the problem of "minks at large" by introducing licences for the keeping of the animals.
People can also read the Christmas card list of the consul general in New York in 1974. Nelson A. Rockefeller, the Coca-Cola chairman and the broadcaster Barbara Walters were all due to receive cards from the Irish representative.
Files also exist on the cycling allowances of Gardaí, President de Valera's Christmas cards and communist activists in Ireland.
