They’ve wiped the tapes.
Ken Foxe writes:
Nearly ten years of footage of debates from Leinster House that was accessible to the public has been permanently deleted from the Internet by the Oireachtas.
The massive bank of footage was widely used by journalists, academics, members of the public, and was particularly popular on social media in catching out u-turning politicians.
However, the database disappeared from the Oireachtas website earlier this month without warning because they said there was “minimal traffic” looking at the files.
The move has been condemned by politicians who said it was scarcely believable that a valuable resource like that could simply be let vanish.
…The archiving of the footage had originally formed part of the Oireachtas’ eDemocracy Unit, which planned to use the web to open up politics to a wider audience.
The person behind the Twitter account newsworthy.ie, who has used dozens of the clips to show up contradictions or u-turns by politicians over the years, said the Oireachtas excuses for deleting the archive simply did not add up.
For finding clips in future, he must now make a formal request that must then go to an off site archive and takes at least several days to be returned.
A request he submitted for two clips of Leo Varadkar appearing to contradict himself on paying a Sunday premium to employees has still not been dealt with a week later.
Thanks Mari Maxwell
Update:
Yes they do and thank you 👍. In terms of transparency, not near enough to begin with, so dont want to lose whats already there.
— Wilderland Theatre (@WilderlandT) September 25, 2017
How will Leo’s Dept of Propaganda respond to this blatant act of democratic sabotage?
By ignoring it.
I’m guessing that they are the ones behind it.
@CampaignForLeo are well on their game
Aren’t they
Straight into the memory hole…
Another victory for open democracy in Ireland
Fupp sake…
Minimal usage? why would that be acceptable as a reason to delete it? its not as if having it there is costing much.
It is not a reason. It is fear. It is doctatorship, on its way to being a dictatorship. It is North Korea in a caibín. It is censorship.
If it can be accessed via a request then it’s still all there. It must be re uploaded immediately. We must find out whose idea it was and who signed off on it. FF and FG have the most to hide and will be the happiest with this development
I don’t even have the energy to pretend that I already knew….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM2J5J2wkjs
Send a FOI request to the Oireachtas asking for information on who requested this, minutes of all meetings where is was discussed and who okayed it.
Nice, would be great to hear an update if you get a response from them
Me? I’m just an anonymous blushirt trolling shill. It’s not in my interest.
I didn’t bother reading this, I’ll wait to see it in more detail on Six-One later.
That’s hilarious
Transcripts right back to 1919 are still available. Might not be full technicolor but does the job just as well.
Although it remains an excellent resource, it doesn’t do the job just as well. Sometimes the transcripts are inaccurate. And it’s also far easier for a politician to gloss over a u-turn captured only in some dry transcript, than it is to ignore a video clip of said u-turn, which can quickly gain a wide audience.