Meetings of Donegal County Council’s Defective Concrete Block Committee will not be live streamed.
A motion calling for the meetings to be streamed was brought before today’s plenary meeting by 100% Redress Councillor Tomas Seán Devine, but it was defeated.
A counter-motion was then put forward by Councillor Niamh Kennedy that current streaming facilities are not extended.
Cllr Kennedy’s motion was voted on, and passed by 17 to 15 votes.
The decision followed lengthy and, at times, heated discussion, as well as a 20-minute adjournment before a vote was taken.
Cllr Tomas Seán Devine argued that public access to the meetings would allow homeowners affected by the defective concrete crisis to stay informed on matters that directly impact their lives.
During the debate, Councillor Martin McDermott said the meetings had never been live streamed, though links were previously shared by external groups. He said that during his time as chair, recordings of meetings were circulated on social media out of context, leading to online abuse and hateful messages, making him cautious about opening meetings to the public.
Councillor Declan Meehan countered that public streaming would provide full context and allow the record to be corrected where necessary.
Other concerns raised included managing public expectations of what council meetings can deliver, whether all committee meetings should be streamed, and comments made to council staff at a previous Defective Concrete Block Committee meeting.
Ultimately, the motion to stream the meetings did not pass.
Cllr Devine says he’s disappointed…………………..
