Laois GAA has banned the media from covering its county board meetings, which will now be held in camera.
Although not unprecedented, the decision is very much out of step with how most counties go about their business.
Laois’s annual convention at the end of last year was also closed off to the media, with Laois Today reporting that limited space on the virtual call was the reasoning behind it.
However, numerous other counties managed to overcome that obstacle and the Laois county board has not specified why the latest decision with regard to its meetings, which generally number around six a year, has been taken.
Minutes from a meeting of the Laois GAA executive has outlined how they plan to “explore use of Laois GAA TV for exclusive announcement of Laois GAA teams, player and management interviews and that internal press could take their lead stories from this production”.
That implies that the media output from team managers and players would essentially be controlled by the county board without opportunity for recognised media outlets to pose questions though, despite that, team managements have also been issued with protocols which, among other things, require a “journalist/event organiser to send brief on questions/requirements at least 24 hours prior to taking place”.
