Motion calls for media to be allowed report on Mayo County Council SPC meetings
A motion was raised at the latest meeting of Mayo County Council to allow the media to attend and report on its Strategic Policy Committee meetings (SPCs).
The topic of media attendance at SPC meetings has been in discussion since July last year, when the council's Chief Executive proposed that the press should not be present until policy is ready to be brought to the main chamber. The proposal received mixed reactions at the time, with many councillors opposing a media ban.
Cllr Michael Loftus raised the issue again at the latest council meeting, asking that all media outlets be allowed to return to SPC meetings. He argued that coverage would help contribute to positive news stories in the area.
As a member of the Economic and Enterprise Development SPC, Cllr Loftus explained that presentations given at these meetings often go unnoticed due to the lack of media presence.
“One presentation I really enjoyed was the Ireland West Knock Airport SDZ (Strategic Development Zone) by Dominic Healy,” said the Fianna Fáil representative.
“He gave a presentation of the SDZ. No one knows about it. No member here outside of the SPC knows about it. Why? Because there was no media at it. The media should be at these meetings because of the amount of positive information that’s out there for Mayo,
“We need to be sending out the positive words that are there,” he stated.
The motion was supported by Cllr Donna Sheridan who said: “I welcome the media. I think it promotes discussion, there is absolutely no reason that I can see that any SPC wouldn't have the media present.”
She is a member of both the Planning and Corporate Development and the Climate Change and Environment SPCs.
Mayo County Council has six SPCs: Housing; Planning and Corporate Development; Roads and Sustainable Travel; Economic and Enterprise Development; Climate Change and Environment and Community Integration and Recreation.
Each committee is made up of elected councillors, representatives from local businesses, farming interests, environmental groups, trade unions and community members. Introduced in 2000, SPCs are there to assist the council in the formulation, development and review of policy. They also allow for groups outside of the council to get involved and offer a wider perspective on policy issues.
In June 2024 the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage published revised guidelines for SPCs. In it they outline how each local authority should adopt standing orders for their SPC meetings.
It recommends that when drafting standing orders, local authorities should have ‘due regard for good practice’ and include the provision for “The presence of the public and media representatives at SPC meetings, in accordance with section 45 of the Local Government Act 2001, as amended.”
At the moment, the Housing SPC in Mayo County Council does allow the media to attend.
This report has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.