Media ban to stay in place
Some objections from floor
WEXFORD G.A.A. County Board delegates have come out in support of the media ban despite a number of objections from the floor at the first meeting of the year in the Talbot Hotel on Tuesday.
The practice of inviting members of the media to cover County Board meetings ended when the new Management Committee outlined a change in the policy observed since 1885.
When the County Board met for their first meeting since Convention, some delegates expressed their opposition to the ban.
Despite those objections it was ruled that the decision of the Management Committee could not be altered and would not be open to a vote from the floor, and this was accepted by the majority of delegates present.
When contacted on Friday, Independent Councillor Ger Carthy, who represents his club, Our Lady’s Island, on the County Board, and who had expressed his opposition to the press ban being imposed, was still adamant in his opinion.
‘I spoke at the County Board meeting voicing my objections to such a ban on the local media,’ he said. ‘As a county councillor - and there were other politicians also present - I warned the members that they needed to be careful as an organisation when implementing a media ban.
‘We are responsible for promoting our games. We are a big organisation, and the media plays a key role in helping us promote the games and all other G.A.A. activities given the amount of space they allocate to our association each week.
‘We need to discuss this (media ban) further at County Board level. This should be a combined decision as we all should move forward as a unit,’ Carthy said.
‘I asked if it was the responsibility of the Management Committee to arrive at such a decision. The Chairman told me it was one of the functions of the county Management Committee to make this decision and it would not be voted upon.
‘I am totally against such a media ban. They not alone give us widespread coverage, but the journalists have also given great service to the G.A.A. in other capacities. This is not the democracy the G.A.A. always preaches so loudly about. It should not happen, and should never be allowed to happen,’ he added.
That view was supported by St. Mary’s (Maudlintown) delegate James Flood who also spoke to this newspaper on Friday.
‘The people of the county are entitled to know what is going on. I feel that ban should be overturned and I spoke against it at the County Board meeting,’ he said.
‘I have not changed my views as I totally oppose such a ban on the local media. This should not be the case, as the press report on our games and other activities, so why not the County Board? I have nothing to hide.
‘In the past when matters were put into committee the press always honoured this, so what is the problem? It’s important for the people to see there is no cloak and dagger stuff going on,’ he added.
‘The clubs are also dependant on the local media for coverage of their own events. The local media have always been good to the clubs. I hope that remains.’
St. Anne’s delegate, Noel O’Keeffe, also opposed the ban, with Naomh Eanna’s Brendan Sheehan expressing some reservations too.
However, Davidstown-Courtnacuddy delegate Andrew Egan said on Friday that he supported the media ban to some extent.
‘I know of club delegates who go there (meetings) and love speaking in front of the press, while others do not like speaking when the press is present. They may be asked to bring up things that they personally feel are foolish, but have to do so having been requested by the club.
‘It’s not as if I am for the ban, per se, but it can lead to more open debate. It’s a difficult one and I realise the coverage the media give us at the same time.’
When asked should the Management Committee make such a decision, Egan said: ‘Perhaps he (Chairman) should have let it go to a vote. I would have had no issue with it going to a vote,’ he added.
An information bulletin issued to the media on Friday at 5.39 p.m., almost three full days after the County Board meeting, stated it had been ‘confirmed that this decision was appropriate to the Coiste Bainistí and the Chairman affirmed his intention to share information in a timely and open manner with Clubs and with the media’.