Zoom meetings ‘a disaster’ says Westmeath council chair

Council meetings which take place online, on platforms such as Zoom, are "a disaster" according to the Westmeath County Council Cathaoirleach, Cllr Ken Glynn.

He was speaking after council CEO Pat Gallagher told a recent meeting it was now clear that official business of the council could be conducted through virtual meetings.

"Earlier in the year, there was a legal doubt over whether decisions made during virtual or part-virtual meetings would be valid, but the Minister (Darragh O'Brien) has now cleared that up," Mr Gallagher explained.

It means that there will now be the option for meetings of the county council, or the local municipal districts, to be held wholly or partly online in certain circumstances.

However, a number of the councillors said they believed virtual meetings were an unsatisfactory way of doing business.

"There is greater interaction, and a greater response from people, if meetings are held in person," said Cllr Mick Dollard.

"We need to keep our options open. I've found remote meetings to be totally unsatisfactory, and with social distancing it shouldn't be impossible to hold meetings in person."

Cllr Glynn agreed, saying, "As chair of the council, I would be looking to see the meetings in person continuing, because Zoom meetings are a disaster."

Both of the Green Party councillors were enthusiastic about having the option to hold meetings remotely. Cllr Hazel Smyth said holding meetings remotely would mean councillors wouldn't have to travel to them, and this would help reduce carbon emissions.

"I work for an international company, where we do everything over Zoom. I find that it can be way more effective, way more productive, as you don't have the laughing and the side-talking that can go on at (an in-person) meeting," said Cllr Smyth.

Cllr Louise Heavin said that virtual meetings should remain an option after Covid-19 has passed.

"There are exceptional circumstances that can happen... Maybe we can't get to a meeting because we've hurt our leg, or there's been a big snow, as we've had in the past. So we should keep this as an option post-pandemic," she said.

Cllr Aengus O'Rourke regarded virtual meetings as "a stop-gap, or emergency, measure" that should be available to people who are unable to attend in person, while councillors Frankie Keena and Tom Farrell both emphasised the benefits of face-to-face meetings.

"You can do a lot more business face-to-face. Once we get over this (pandemic) we should revert back to normal business," said Cllr Farrell.

Cllr Denis Leonard stated that "90% of communication is non-verbal" and that in-person meetings had advantages for which no amount of online interaction could compensate. He also pointed to poor broadband coverage being an issue in certain areas.

"Remote meetings should be the exception rather than the norm," he concluded.

Meanwhile, Cllr John Dolan said he wouldn't like to see a situation where councillors who could physically attend a meeting decide to "just stay at home and dial into it instead."

Council CEO Pat Gallagher said it was clearly the view of the majority of councillors that in-person meetings should continue, but he said the option of attending remotely would become available, and that people attending remotely would have the same legal standing as people who are attending in person.