If Galway City Council meetings are going to continue in hybrid format, then they should be streamed so that the public can have access to them.
This is the view of People Before Profit Galway representative, Adrian Curran, who was reacting to the recent decision of city councillors to continue holding their monthly meetings with a mix of in person and online.
However, the public currently cannot attend the meetings in person so as to reduce the numbers of people gathered in one room together. The media is allowed to attend the meeting virtually.
Mr Curran points out that Section 45 of the Local Government Act 2014 states that “members of the public and representatives of the media are entitled to be present at a meeting of a local authority”.
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“Since Galway City Council switched to online meetings in 2020, the public has been denied this right,” he alleged. “Given the current high levels of infection, it is perfectly understandable for the council to continue with hybrid meetings. It is unacceptable however for councillors to use this as an excuse to avoid scrutiny from the people who elect them.”
Mr Curran said that as the meetings are already being filmed and streamed, it would be “easy and cost free” to allow members of the public to watch the stream.
