Viewpoint: the Town Hall Meeting

So, was it all worthwhile organising a Town Hall Meeting with the candidates in the Naas area for next Friday's local elections, asks Brian Byrne? My considered answer is 'yes'.

Just 50 people turned up to interact with the nine election hopefuls who took the gamble on spending a full evening of shrinking canvass time in Kilcullen. That needs to be placed against the fact that there are around 1,000 households in the Kilcullen town area. Maybe 2,000 votes?

The meeting was promoted and previewed on The Bridge Magazine, the Kilcullen Diary, the Kildare Nationalist and the Leinster Leader. KFM gave it news space through last Monday and on the morning of the event they gave me time to appeal to Kilcullen people to offer the same courtesy to the candidates who had committed to come along. Kilcullen Community Action, hosting the event, had also spread the word by text and posters, and I personally sent a score of texts and more than 40 emails to flag the event to my own local contacts.

I have already put in the Diary space my appreciation for those among the 16 candidates who committed to coming. For the ones who didn't make it on the night but gave notice for very valid reasons, I add my thanks on behalf of the community of Kilcullen.

The concept which Orla O'Neill and I were trying to replicate comes from America, in particular New England for which I have significant personal knowledge. Such Town Meetings are an integral part of the local democratic process. Local elected representatives are required to answer to those who put them where they are. Regularly. We don't have that in Ireland, because Council meetings here don't allow opportunity for the public to comment on or question what's going on. Which is why the public gallery in Kildare County Council is mainly populated by Council officials and issue lobbyists.

In that American context, there's usually a good turnout of ordinary electorate ('real people'), especially in smaller communities similar to Kilcullen. What they have, which we don't, is the right to question as an ongoing process. Not every five years when elections come around again.

So, even if it was just 50 people who came to the Town Meeting, I'm feeling positive about it. A template has been devised and implemented. During the meeting, which was a proactive event from the community, the candidates offered opinions and gave commitments. All on the record, not of a Council meeting but directly to Kilcullen. Among other things, those hoping to be elected all said they would come back to a local forum to discuss the Kilcullen Draft LAP before they voted on it. We will hold them to that. And we will be looking to them to attend other meetings locally through the course of their tenure as guardians of our needs.

I'll be placing a more comprehensive report on the meeting here soon. But what I most want to say now is thanks to all who felt committed enough to their community of Kilcullen to come along last Thursday evening. You're not the so-called 'usual suspects'. You're the belief in our future.

I hope you will be joined in large numbers as our 'New Kilcullen' evolves.

(Note: This post was changed to reflect the number of households in the Kilcullen Town area, rather than the earlier household figure for Kilcullen, Carnalway and Gilltown.)