NEW LOCAL SAFETY committees convened by councils to replace the old Joint Policing Committees will largely be held behind closed doors in many areas of the country.
Many Local Community Safety Partnerships (LCSPs) that responded to a survey from The Journal have taken the decision not to allow the media to cover their proceedings, except one meeting per year that is required to be held in public.
Journalists were able to cover the now defunct Joint Policing Committees, which the LCSPs have replaced.
The decision to meet in close session is in line with a recommendation to councils from the Department of Justice, under whose aegis the new LCSPs have been formed. The department told LCSPs to exclude media from all but one of six meetings they will hold over the course of their first year of operation.
It argued this would “allow for relationships and trust to develop” at a time when LCSPs are developing their work plans, and could be reviewed in time. LCSPs are encouraged to have a wide community representation, alongside gardaí, councillors and state agencies.
‘Tokenistic’
Concerns about closed door meetings have been raised by local politicians and local media. A recent news story in the Galway Advertiser on the Co Galway LCSP warned that the newspaper could only report on the meeting second-hand via an account from council officials, as journalists had not been allowed to attend.
The newspaper noted that only one meeting of the body will be held in public this year.
“This offer is seen as tokenistic and media are hoping for an eventual return to open coverage of the meetings by local media for the communities covered by the council,” the newspaper stated.
Like Co Galway LCSP, Galway city will also hold five of its first six meetings in private session.
Politicians in Limerick and Laois have also criticised the decision to hold most meetings in private. Politicians raised concerns including that this could breed mistrust and be a form of exclusion of the wider community.
Five meetings of Limerick LCSP and four in Laois are scheduled to be held in private session, the councils told The Journal.
Wexford, Clare, Mayo, Leitrim, South Dublin, Kerry, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Meath also plan to only invite media to one meeting this year. Councils, which act as secretariat for the new bodies, cited the government guidance as part of the rationale, as well as the need to allow the establishment of working relationships.
A number of other LCSPs including Roscommon and Louth have have not yet made a decision on media attendance.
Some councils ignoring national guidance
Several LCSPs have ignored the government’s guidance and decided to admit media to meetings.
Cavan will hold a portion of each meeting in public. Kilkenny will hold its first two meetings in private session, with subsequent meetings expected to be open to the media. Sligo and Donegal will also admit journalists.
Monaghan will hold its first two meetings in private and then open to the press. Minutes from Monaghan’s first meeting show the matter was discussed, with members arguing that the media’s presence would help to raise the new body’s profile, and avoid the spread of misinformation.
Cork city has also agreed to hold meetings in public. Chairman Terry Shannon, a Fianna Fáil councillor, said: “I just feel if you have meetings in private, even if there’s nothing going on, people have this notion, ‘what are you trying to hide?’”
“We will have private time if people raise certain issues, but by and large all meetings will be in public. That isn’t what the department wants, but we’re in Cork and we do things our way.”
Some councils did not respond to requests for information. These included Dublin City Council, which will host five LCSPs.
It’s understood that a decision has been taken for the reconstituted LCSP for Dublin’s north inner city, which previously operated as a pilot, to meet in closed session except for one public meeting.
Members of some of the city’s other LCSPs indicated their initial meetings would be held in private session with a decision on media attendance to follow.
