Tipperary County Council raise concerns about ‘vitriol’ on social media

Councillors and officials have raised concerns about communications with the media at Tipperary County Council.

During the housing update at last week’s sitting of Tipperary County Council, Director of Services Sinead Carr said comments on social media have been “shocking”.

Speaking about a circumstance where the council had issued a statement correcting the facts of a story, Ms Carr said:

“The level of vitriol on social media was nothing short of shocking, especially as there were two small children involved. I am reluctant to do that again because all it does is release the lunatics, to be honest, in terms of people thinking they can say what they want without reverberations.”

Ms Carr said she respects the media’s role in raising issues and holding local authorities accountable.

However, she said she would be concerned about speaking publicly where vulnerable people were involved.

Ms Carr said she does not believe the comments on social media reflect most people’s views but, nevertheless, are very concerning.

Clonmel Cllr Siobhan Ambrose initiated the discussion by calling for Tipperary County Council to employ communications officers.

She said often, when an issue is reported in the media, the public only gets one side of the story.

Referencing a specific story reported in recent weeks, Ballina Cllr Phyll Bulger said:

“It’s unfortunate that the media did not check the facts.”

She, too, suggested Tipperary County Council employ a communication officer.

However, she and Cllr Ambrose were informed that there was one already in place.

Readers should note that while Tipperary County Council employs a communications officer, that department does not handle media queries.

The policy of the council is that the media submit queries through customer services to be forwarded to the corporate section.

Pitching a Tent

Ms Carr said she had instructed her staff to refrain from allowing media attention to influence how they carry out their work.

She said there is a belief that if someone pitches a tent and goes on the radio, they get a house.

But this is not the case.

Ms Carr said her staff deal with the public empathetically and follow only the facts.

She advised elected members to do the same.