by Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Limerick
The Irish National Citizens’ Parliament is halfway through its work on proposing pathways to future-proof media and democracy in Limerick, Ireland and across Europe.
Bringing the truth to the people
Twenty representatives from Limerick city and county have met on two Saturdays now to debate on the difficulties and obstacles journalists face in bringing the truth to the people. They also considered how people receive and engage with their news and have recommendations to make to those in power so that they can improve the flow of useful and truthful information to the public.
Citizens meet the politicians
The members of the Citizens’ Parliament were addressed by Live 95’s station Director and Presenter, Joe Nash and by The Limerick Leader’s Editor, Áine Fitzgerald in Mary Immaculate College. After a grilling by the citizens, they all had lunch in Bobby Byrne’s and met with local councillors Peter Doyle and Seán Hartigan, with Willie O’Dea, TD and with Dermot Nestor, President of MIC.
Educate children in how to understand their media now
One of the recommendations that they made (on Saturday 5th April) is to get the Department of Education to introduce Media Literacy as a subject in all schools so that young people can critically evaluate what they read, hear and see.
Another recommendation is that the Department of Finance should introduce tax credits for journalists who are not as well paid or as secure in their jobs as we might like to think.
Other recommendations that may become resolutions include providing funding for journalists and for community media directly from the local authorities; providing better protection for journalists going about their daily work and sorting out the defamation laws.