The Irish Film Classification Office (Ifco) has held the last picture show at its premises on Harcourt Terrace in Dublin before moving to its new screening venue at Light House Cinema in Smithfield.

Opened in 1945, the Harcourt Terrace screening room was the scene of countless cuts and bans, in the decades when Ireland had one of the most draconian censorship systems in the world.

Ifco director John Kelleher welcomed Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern as guest of honour for the final screening, Armando Iannucci's uproarious political satire In the Loop, which opens next Friday. The minister was accompanied by senior officials from his department, who evidently enjoyed the movie's humour. Guests included Irish Film Board chairman James Morris, film historian Kevin Rockett, the Ifco director's predecessor Sheamus Smith, and his son, Kisses producer Macdara Kelleher.