‘Ludicrous’ - Carlow event organisers to face ‘more red tape’ amid new guidelines

Organisers of public events in Carlow are set to face “more red tape” amid new guidelines, a council meeting has heard.

A presentation was made on event management guidance at the January plenary meeting of Carlow County Council.

Event Manager Julie Brophy presented the Event Management Guidance Document and explained why it has been created.

Ms Brophy said: “Event organisers have an obligation to keep everybody safe - the audience, performers, suppliers and staff.

“In line with the LGMA Event Management Guidance Document, it was essential to develop an event management guide for organisers in Carlow of events, to assist them in their responsibility to provide duty of care and to ensure safe and successful events.

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“Organisers and venues are responsible if something goes wrong. Some events are poorly planned and are submitted too late for review.”

She continued by outlining what the document will do in practice when it comes to the organising of events.

“The policy sets clear rules and standards. It helps to make events safe and allows for refusal of unsafe events.

“It ensures that insurance requirements are met and it ensures co-operation with gardaí and other agencies where necessary.”

She also explained how organisers will engage with the council when they want to plan an event.

Ms Brophy said: “The event application process will be quite simple. We’ve been doing it throughout the year even without the guidance document.

“So you complete your public event application form, it can be downloaded from our website in conjunction with our event management guidelines.

“Event management plans can be submitted through a generic email which will be set up.

“The plan review process will then commence and we will liaise with area engineers, Carlow gardaí and our insurance department.”

Fianna Fáil councillor John Pender, who chaired the committee which oversaw the creation of the guidelines, welcomed the formation of the document.

He thanked Ms Brophy for the work she has done on it, describing her as “the brains behind the whole effort”.

He went on to clarify what sort of events are exempt from following the guidelines.

Cllr Pender said: “I think the important thing to point out here about the document is that it doesn’t affect any private clubs or organisations that are running events.

“It’s only events that are taking place in public areas, like roads or squares or wherever, where we maybe as owners would have responsibilities there.

“But all of the likes of GAA clubs, rugby clubs, hall committees who run field days, events of all sorts, they don’t have to comply with this.”

He concluded by saying that it’s important to have such guidelines in place, given the threat of public liability.

People Before Profit-Solidarity councillor Adrienne Wallace also welcomed the document. She asked whether the guidelines would apply to protests, such as those which have taken place in support of Palestine.

In response, Ms Brophy said: “This is more geared towards planned events, so protests wouldn’t be planned and it would be a matter for the gardaí under their remit.”

She explained that standards are already in place for certain events and that the aim of the document is to formalise them.

She added that the council plans to raise public awareness by promoting the guidelines in newspapers and on social media.

Fine Gael councillor Ben Ward raised concerns over the guidelines adding an extra level of bureaucracy to organising public events.

“I think this is what’s happening too much. We’re bringing in new things that don’t have an extra benefit,” he stated.

However, Cllr Pender responded by saying that the document will actually help people who are looking to organise events.

He said: “I think it will also assist people who are involved in communities and groups that are running events because all of these events have to have an event controller.

“So if a group is running whatever in a public space, a road run, a bike race, a meeting in the park, a meeting in the town square, they have to have an event controller.

“There’s somebody on that committee who has to say, I’m prepared to put myself forward as the event controller and by having these documents completed in and agreed with the local authority, it actually gives them protection and safeguards them because they’ve done it the right way.

“So I think it would be of great assistance to volunteers in the community who are involved in running these types of events.”

Despite these remarks, Independent Ireland councillor John Cassin also raised concerns over the level of bureaucracy involved.

Cllr Cassin said: “If you have a group of people who get together and they’re concerned about the colour of the sky and they want to have a little gathering.

“That’s a huge ask for a small group of people that wants to do a very small amount.”

He also gave the example of a vigil being organised if somebody in the community had died in tragic circumstances.

He said that expecting such organisers to fill out forms and follow guidelines was “ludicrous in a sense”.

Fine Gael councillor Michael Doran echoed the sentiments of Cllr Cassin. He questioned whether the document will make things better for event organisers, adding that he doesn’t want to see “more red tape”.

Ms Brophy responded by saying that event organisers will face different requirements based on the size of the event and the circumstances.

The Chief Executive of Carlow County Council, Coilín O’Reilly, also spoke to clarify some points to the members present.

Mr O’Reilly explained that public events are risky and that if somebody was hurt, the council executive would be blamed.

He said that the council will be as flexible as they can in facilitating events, but argued that events that aren’t properly planned shouldn’t be held.

He concluded by saying that if an event is held in public, it is the responsibility of the council to ensure everyone in attendance is safe.