Lecture by Ombudsman at Joint Conference

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Ms. Emily O’Reilly, Ombudsman and Information Commissioner for the Republic of Ireland gave the first COLICO lecture at the Annual Joint Conference of the Library Association of Ireland (LAI) and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) at the City Hotel, Derry on Wednesday 20th April 2005.

The theme of the Joint Conference was Informing the Present. The title of Ms. O'Reilly's lecture was FOI: The Hallmark of Democracy  and in it she stated:

I am delighted to be here today to deliver the first annual COLICO lecture as part of this joint conference. Your conference programme is full and diverse. It contains many topics of interest to me in my capacity as both Information Commissioner - as they relate to information matters - and Ombudsman - as they relate to wider public service and governance issues. As Information Commissioner, and as a former journalist, it is particularly interesting for me to address an audience of information professionals who are, traditionally and of their very nature, concerned with matters of intellectual freedom, censorship, dissemination of information to a variety of audiences, as well as with the management of information. I feel I am speaking to an audience which has a particular affinity with my role as Information Commissioner.............................................

I have mentioned attending a number of international conferences on FOI, and of the value of such meetings to all participants. In positions such as mine, where one's Office is one of a kind, cross-border and international co-operation is a necessity. As you more than most people know, the free flow of information depends on deep-rooted and widespread co-operation. I know I am preaching to the converted when I stress the importance of such professional co-operation. The very fact of this North/South conference, which has been run on that basis since long before such activities were either popular or profitable, is testimony to your commitment to professional co-operation. The activities of COLICO, an all-Ireland and cross-sectoral committee, means that such co-operation is firmly embedded in the policy-making arena.

The full text of Ms. O'Reilly's lecture is available to read at http://www.oic.gov.ie/26b2_3c2.htm

The establishment of a COLICO lecture at the annual Joint LAI/CILIP Conference was proposed as part of the Action Plan