Proposal to live stream Kildare County Council meetings regarding this region rejected at meeting

A proposal to live stream Kildare County Council (KCC) meetings relating to the Clane-Maynooth Municipal District (MD) has been rejected.

The matter was put to a vote at the latest MD meeting, which took place on Friday, April 10 last.

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At the start of this meeting, the councillors in attendance were informed by KCC that they had to consider the live streaming of the MD's meetings, following a referral from a previous full KCC meeting.

Three Cllrs voted in favour of live streaming the MD's meetings: Social Democrats Cllrs Peter Melrose and Paula Mulroe, and Fianna Fáil Cllr Donna Phelan (All three also attended the latest meeting by virtual means).

In contrast, five Cllrs voted against the suggestion: Labour Party Cllr Angela Feeney, Fianna Fáil Cllrs Paul Ward and Daragh Fitzpatrick, Fine Gael Cllr Paul Ward, and Independent Cllr Pádraig McEvoy, the latter of whom appeared at the meeting by virtual means.

As a result, the vote was shot down.

The Mayor of the MD, Fine Gael Cllr Brendan Wyse, abstained from the vote as he was the Chair of the meeting.

However, speaking to the Leinster Leader afterwards, he revealed that he would have voted against the suggestion in the event of a tie.

"I saw only five people viewing the full KCC live stream last month and I don't think it is worth pursuing at the moment," Mayor Wyse explained.

Fine Gael Cllr William Durkan was unable to cast a vote at the meeting as he was absent from the proceedings.

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Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme