Roundup #2

A roundup of recent stories about FOI in Ireland

Craigavon Borough Council have a code of conduct requiring staff to declare any familial relationships with other staff. But since it does not monitor this, it is unable to provide information as to how many familial relationships there are between staff.


According to the Irish Times, an FOI request in the Republic has revealed a that a report sent to the Minister for Arts on the proposed merger between the National Library and the National archives - expected to save a million Euro - would “seriously undermine” the ability of the “already very strained” bodies to deliver on their statutory obligations.

The Freedom of Information Act is often used by press officers as a 'delaying tactic', the Society of Editors Conference in Belfast has been told. At the organization's annual conference, the editor of the Belfast Telegraph claimed that it is now more difficult to access information that should be in the public domain:
“we are in a pretty shutdown society,” he said.“For information that can be given easily, we actually face delay. Information is actually harder and harder to get hold of.”

15 years a-growing...

Anyone interested in Freedom of Information in the Republic will want to consider attending the Conference to be held at the University of Limerick on 11 February next year.

Hosted by the Department of Politics and Public Administration and the Journalism Section, it will look at Fifteen years of FOI in the Republic.

The conference aims to bring together professionals working in Government departments and public service organisations; legislators; academics; the media and other interested parties to critically examine the legislation, arguably one of the most important laws on the Irish Statute Book.

The one day conference hopes to hear from a range of speakers on issues including the operation and impact of FOI in Ireland; policing and FOI in comparable jurisdictions; comparative political and legal studies of open government and ‘sunshine’ legislation; the impact of FOI and open government legislation on politics, public policy and public affairs; FOI and civil and human rights; and FOI and the media.

Interesting point: with a fees regime operating in the Republic, there seems to be a much greater emphasis on FOI as a tool for journalists rather than members of the public (as with the no-fee UK approach).

Not sure I can make it to the conference (hashtag: #foi15) but if I'm free I certainly will - registration is a very reasonable €40.