Majority support lifting Mayo Community Safety Partnership's media ban

WITH democracy under threat from fake news, the media should be allowed to attend and report on meetings of Mayo's Community Safety Partnership.

The partnership, which replaced the old Joint Policing Committee, has been accused of operating as a 'secret society' after it took the decision to exclude the local newspapers and radio from meetings.

Seven councillors are among its membership and they have a resounding message to bring back to it after the elected members of Mayo County Council backed a motion calling for that decision to be reversed.

No elected representative spoke out against the motion brought by Councillor Michael Kilcoyne, and signed by 16 other councillors, calling on Mayo Community Safety Partnership to lift its media embargo.

A letter from the editors of The Connaught Telegraph, Mayo News, Midwest Radio and Western People was circulated to councillors ahead of their monthly meeting, with representatives from media outlets present in the public gallery for the debate.

The 30-member partnership comprises of representatives from the council, An Garda Síochána, HSE, Tusla, and youth, community, business, and social inclusion sectors. The decision to exclude the media it to give the partnership time to 'build trust and relationships'.

Apart from one public meeting a year, it will operate as a secret society for the rest of the year, Councillor Kilcoyne stated. They were given excuses about settling in and getting to know each other, but this is a public body, he stressed, and when councillors are elected they are accountable to the public from their first meeting.

People feel it is a 'waste of time', he commented, as they're not getting any response back from this committee. “You cannot read in the paper or listen on the radio to what's happening and they're entitled to know.”

A vote to exclude the media was done by an anonymous poll, which was not the way any of them were elected, he continued. These votes should be taken at a meeting where the representative of every organisation is accountable.

The way it is being rolled out, behind closed doors, is wrong, said Councillor Kilcoyne. “I find it unbelievable.”

He was proposing that meetings should be public, with the press present. There will be meetings when confidential matters have to be considered, and there was no problem with meetings then going into committee.

The councillor's motion also asked the executive to ensure the local media is invited to attend and report on all of the council's Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) meetings. There have been some where the press are not notified by the council, relying instead on elected members to let them know they're on.

“They are not refused entry, but not telling them they are on is the same thing,” he commented.

Democracy is under threat from fake news, with so-called journalists putting their own views across, and things being put out that are untrue, commented Councillor Donna Sheridan. They were lucky to have such professional reporters and journalists in the local media, “and we need to protect that.”

She is one of seven councillors on the partnership and with more than half of the full council membership wanting the media at meetings, those seven should consider how they vote in regards to the press.

Acknowledging some individuals may not be used to a press presence, she pointed out how council management and staff at municipal meetings have to answer questions in front of the media. And she asked were they going to start a precedence where if people don't want to have those conversations in front of the press, that they will start barring the media.

If people didn't want to be there because of the press, let that be said in public and let their organisations send other representatives. What would happen if the courts service or gardaí won't work because of the press being present, she asked.

“Where does it end? This needs to stop. We have an opportunity to fight for democracy and fight for the freedom of the press,” Councillor Sheridan implored.

Councillor Blackie Gavin cried 'shame' on the exclusion of the press, who should be reporting on incidents in our towns and villages.

It is an important part of democracy and important for the general public to be informed about what is going on, he stated, calling for the embargo to be lifted as a matter of urgency.

Councillor Damien Ryan said they have to strike the right balance, while questioning the power to compel.

They have always worked in a spirit of cooperation with the media, who have been very balanced and fair and he didn't want to see that diminished. And he re-echoed the threat from social media and AI, saying it is important to have accurate and balanced reporting of meetings.

There are policies and strategies which have to be thrashed out and maybe they have to be given that bit of time, but he didn't want to see them going down a cul-de-sac of everything happening in committee.

At the end of the day everyone in all these forums are there to do their best and represent the views of their constituents.

Chief executive Kevin Kelly explained that the partnership is a separate entity and he has no control over it.

In relation to the SPCs, he understood the media were invited to them all. If not receiving notice on specific ones, he asked for the details.

* Funded under the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme