Limerick councillor’s social media post ‘flagged’ as being 'potentially misleading'
Comments from Cllr Elisa O'Donovan criticised as being 'disingenuous'
A LIMERICK councillor has had a posting she made on the internet flagged for being potentially misleading.
Social Democrats member Elisa O’Donovan, who was returned for a second term earlier this month complained on social media that following the first meeting of the new local authority that she was not allowed to speak.
“Today at our first council meeting, I asked to make some opening remarks as party leader of the @SocDemsLk (Social Democrats Limerick). I was told that this was not allowed. So the only voices we heard from were men congratulating themselves on various positions. Business as usual in Limerick Council,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Ter post - signed off with a crying emoji - had been viewed more than 118,000 times.
Cllr O’Donovan has 11,400 followers on the social network.
However, within 24 hours of her post appearing on Friday night, a note was placed below it by X, reading: “It is not true only men were allowed to speak. A number of female councillors also spoke.”
The ability for other users to flag content on X was in place on its predecessor, Twitter.
Notes are applied to potentially misleading content not based on majority rule, but instead agreement from users on different sides of the political spectrum. It’s only once a number have been received that a note is placed.
These were introduced on X’s predecessor Twitter during the Covid-19 pandemic to combat the spread of misinformation.
At the meeting, newly elected Fine Gael councillor Noreen Stokes addressed the meeting after she was appointed as leas-priomh chomhairleoir.
At the end of the meeting, Cllr O’Donovan attempted to speak, but was told initially she could not. However, the new chair of the council, Cllr Daniel McSweeney let her in to speak.
Then two other female councillors - Sinn Fein’s Sharon Benson and Independent Brigid Teefy addressed the annual general meeting.
Two Fine Gael councillors Sarah Kiely and Olivia O’Sullivan challenged Cllr O’Donovan’s initial posting in the minutes after it appeared on the internet.
Cllr O’Sullivan called her comment “disingenuous” and “not a true reflection” of the meeting.
It was a stance backed up by Cllr Kiely. She said this Tuesday that she felt it important to intervene. “Where our print and radio media come into play, they are held to account to a very high standard. If you print something incorrect as a journalist, you get into trouble. You are open to scrutiny. We don’t have that on social media,” she said.
“People are bewildered with politics at the moment. There’s an onus on all of us who have been lucky enough to be elected to be accurate,” she added.
Cllr O'Donovan did not return a phone call from the Limerick Leader / Limerick Live.
However, in a WhatsApp message reply she wrote: "Were you not at the meeting? Perhaps you could report on the facts if you were there?"