Laois County Council have been urged to appoint a Communications Officer to share the work undertaken by the Council with the community and the wider population.
Fine Gael Cllr Thomasina Connell raised the motion at the May meeting of the Council – the final meeting before June 7’s Local Elections.
“County Laois has a great story to tell,” Cllr Connell said. “We are a vibrant population now with over 51 nationalities residing here. Almost 100,000 people live here.
“Everyone here knows that Laois is a great place to live, work, play and raise a family but we need to up our game in getting our message across.
“Laois County Council do exceptional work across all sectors, bringing communities together, organising events and festivals, celebrating our culture and arts, growing our local economy; but we need to tell the people what we are doing and ensure that everyone has a chance to join in.
“We need to appoint someone who can effectively communicate the positive developments happening in our county, ensuring that every resident is aware of the strides we are making.”
The role of a Communications and Public Relations Officer would be to market Council projects, engage with local media, manage a social media presence, and organise public events.
This role is not just about promoting what we do; it’s about building a connection with our community so that we all have a sense of pride in our achievements,” Cllr Connell said.
“In addition, we need to raise our profile both regionally and nationally. We have excellent transport links with Dublin and Cork, we are situated in the centre of Ireland and have motorways crisis crossing our County.
“This is the perfect location for large scale industrial and logistical businesses to place themselves so they can grow and thrive. But we need to market ourselves better.
“We have an IDA park that is not fully occupied and this needs to change. Any new business that comes into Laois to set up to offer local jobs is a success story. We need more of this.
“We have undertaken so many initiatives. Each of these projects contributes to making Laois a better place to live, work, and visit. Yet, without a strategic communications effort, these successes often go unnoticed or underappreciated.
“Social Media is now the number one method of marketing and is very effective. Wide reaching platforms such as Instagram and Facebook are essential in getting our message across to hundreds of thousands of people.
“Currently we have nobody employed in Laois County Council who is responsible for our messaging and this needs to be urgently addressed. We need a dedicated professional to share our stories.”
But not all Cllrs were convinced. Independent Cllrs Aisling Moran and James Kelly, Sinn Féin Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley, and Fianna Fáil Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald all refuted the need for such an appointment.
Cllr Moran said the money would be better served on hiring an EU Officer who would be responsible for sourcing and applying for all potential EU grants available to Laois County Council.
The Independent Cllr added that a better way to market the Council would be the introduction of live streaming of Council and Municipal District meetings. Cllr Moran said this would also be a significant addition in terms of transparency.
Cllr Dwane Stanley said the Council’s current staff could take on the load of marketing the Council, as well as increasing the awareness of grant funding available to the public, clubs and organisations.
Cllr Kelly agreed, saying the Council is already promoting itself well and noted the significant coverage received by local media.
Cllr Fitzgerald said additional resources would be more beneficial if they were directed towards making funding information more widely available and easily accessible.
She said more clubs and organisations need to be helped with the funding-application process to help realise the potential financial opportunities that are available.
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