Permission needed for videos and photos
Westmeath GAA County Committee meeting
Photographers attending underage games in Westmeath and posting the photos on social media channels, is out of hand, according to Westmeath GAA PRO Marie Lynagh. Clubs who are videoing matches will need to get permission from Westmeath GAA, she advised.
Addressing the issue at the Augus meeting of the County Committee, she said only officially accredited photographers are permitted to cover GAA games.
Garrycastle’s Michael Mannion raised the query and he felt it would place an obstacle in the path of clubs who are recording games for their own use.
“Anyone can come to the gate and say, ‘I’m a photographer or a videographer at the game today’. So we do need to have a handle on it,” explained Marie Lynagh.
It emerged that there is a group set up for sharing match videos and, after some discussion, chairman Frank Mescall advised that the management committee will have to discuss this. “We were not aware of it,” he said. Secretary Keith Quinn said it is unclear how many clubs are involved and there needs to be more control on this.
Regarding photographs, Coiste na nÓg secretary, Barry Kelly, wondered who is responsible for keeping tabs on photographers, who are not just taking photos when their own club is playing. Another person has recently started taking photos and it seems to be getting out of control.
It was pointed out clubs need to take control regarding people taking photos at underage games. Keith Quinn, secretary, said the Child Welfare Officer in each club needs to be aware of the issue.
“We can make clubs aware of it, but we can’t go around policing it,” he explained.
Fixtures secretary, John Cunningham said it’s a commercial exercise. “They are selling the photos, not just taking them. The underage part of it is wrong. The adult games - it’s taking from our revenue,” he said.
Mark Bardon of Multyfarnham felt people taking underage photos must be Garda vetted and follow child safeguarding protocols.
The general feeling was that photographers need to have permission to take photos at games and clubs need to get much stricter on people photographing players at underage matches.