The film could not be officially banned , since it contained no sex , but the Irish government did prevent it from being screened in cinemas or by state broadcaster RTÉ . After a single press screening in Dublin in 1967 – which provoked a hostile reaction from newspapers and RTÉ – Lennon entered it for that year 's Cork Film Festival , but it was rejected on the grounds that it had already been shown in the capital . It was only when the film was chosen to represent Ireland at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival that the Cork organisers were embarrassed into changing their decision at the next festival – held in September 1968 . However , the organisers gave it a lunchtime screening on the day that all the media covering the Festival were invited " to a free oyster-and-Guinness lunch in Kenmore , 70 miles away . " Lennon organised his own screening in Cork the following day , the resulting furore leading to a single Dublin cinema – the International Film Theatre – giving it a seven-week run to packed audiences
Cork Film Festival
Cork Film Festival
Rocky Road to Dublin (film)