WHEN you take journalism out of the mix at local government meetings, ultimately you are left with a broken democracy.
And with a large swathe of the ‘real’ Council business done behind closed doors since the amalgamation of the two authorities in 2014, the public are left in the dark while important decisions are made on our behalf.
Council meetings that once upon a time would have been open to the media are now held as ‘briefings’ and ‘workshops’, leaving us all none the wiser.
One of the biggest rows at Council level in recent times, the closure of the Irish Rugby Experience and the perceived snub of JP McManus, is one that the people of Limerick followed closely over the last year. The dogs on the street had an opinion on it.
So to hear that councillors were to meet with the billionaire horse racing mogul in a private briefing last Thursday was yet another red flag.
At the start of last week, long-serving Fianna Fáil councillor Kieran O’Hanlon took the opportunity to apologise to McManus and his family ahead of the secret pow-wow.
As he ended his term as Cathaoirleach of the Metropolitan District, he tried to atone for the percieved sins of the local authority and management of the failed handover of the IRE last year. O’Hanlon apologised, not only on his own behalf, but on behalf of all the Metropolitan District members — which came as news to them — at a public meeting.
O’Hanlon’s apology was an early indicator, to me at least, that last Thursday’s meeting would be nothing more than a kissing contest, unlikely to deliver real results.
The question has to be asked though – why wasn’t this meeting held in public?
If there’s kissing and cuddling, let us see the smooch-fest for ourselves. If there’s skin and hair flying, do that in the light of day too. The €30m empty lot on our city’s main thoroughfare is undoubtedly within the public interest, as is how our elected representatives hold discussions on it.
“We have one of the biggest gifts coming to us from one of the greatest people Limerick ever had – JP McManus. Not only did we refuse it, but we insulted the McManus family in the process,” O’Hanlon said at City Hall in advance of the hush-hush discussion.
The Mayor of Limerick got plenty of stick for his absence from the meeting, which he missed because of long-standing meetings overseas.
I often use the auld hair washing excuse myself!
“While I cannot attend myself, I do believe it will be very helpful for JP (McManus) to meet with other councillors for everyone to share both hopes and concerns and engage in further open and constructive dialogue. I, myself, had a recent meeting with him and others of his family and team accompanied by senior officials of the Council,” he said in a statement the night before the meeting.
Listen, I’m sure there was enough back and forth in the Council chamber last Thursday without the Mayor adding his €300,000 offer into it.
I’m sure they’ll all be friends again in time for the Ryder Cup.
When reporters and members of the public are kept from vital government meetings in the public interest, you have to question the motivation.
We are on a dangerous road if a local authority can pick and choose what is newsworthy and what meetings the public should or shouldn’t be allowed into.
It’s not as if a €30m building in the heart of the city is at stake or anything, is it?
