THE Government’s Strategic Communications Unit (SCU) has the potential to damage public confidence in the media and should be disbanded immediately.
That’s according to Fianna Fáil TD, Willie O’Dea, who has called for “the blurring of the lines between Fine Gael and Government propaganda” to end.
The former Defence Minister believes that in order to preserve and protect the independence of Irish journalism, the Government’s Strategic Communications Unit needs to be disbanded.
“It’s as simple as that. Taking out double page spreads in local newspapers promoting Fine Gael General Election candidates, including in Limerick, is a disgraceful abuse of tax payers money,” Deputy O’Dea declared.
He also feels that the Government were slow to help pensioners last week with an extra weeks fuel allowance and “yet Leo can have his vanity project funded to the tune of €5 million by the taxpayers of Ireland. He should not be preying on the financial difficulties in the Irish media industry to garner attention for his party’s election candidates.”
He went on to say that Irish journalism has served our country without fear or favour since the foundation of the State.
“It has helped us mark important milestones in our nation’s history and it has acted as a backstop against malevolent behaviours and activities in Irish public life. However, Irish media is under severe financial pressure from online digital advertisers and they are under constant financial pressure. Fine Gael saw an opportunity, through the SCU and the Ireland 2040 project, to increase their presence and promotion in communities up and down the country,” he concluded.
Fine Gael Senator for Limerick, Maria Byrne hit back at O’Dea and claimed that Fianna Fáil kept people in the dark throughout all their time in Government.
“And we saw where that ended! Do Fianna Fáil even know what the function of the SCU is? When you can’t compete with the content or the plan such as Project Ireland 2040, it seems Fianna Fáil is intent on shooting the messenger,” Senator Byrne told the Limerick Post.
“Project Ireland 2040 is a very positive project for Limerick. Limerick city as a driving force for the Mid-West region, supplemented by key players such as Shannon and the Shannon-Foynes Port, are key to the future progression of this city and region.
“Fine Gael, who in Government has brought the country back from the brink to a position where we are a leading economy in Europe, has laid out a future progressive vision for Limerick in Project Ireland 2040.
“Have Fianna Fáil had a single original thought or plan to improve this country? Calls to scrap the Strategic Communications Unit show Fianna Fail is devout of an original thought. Fianna Fáil wasn’t able to criticise that plan whatsoever and it’s absolutely clear they offer no alternatives,” she concluded.
by Alan Jacques
alan@limerickpost.ie
