Gavin continuing to make an impact

Gavin, my nephew, continues to do Trojan work on his Freedom of Information campaign and is beginning to get noticed by the wider media.

Here’s a report from the Sunday Times on 24th January.

Blogger gets big discount on the price of freedom

Hats off to Gavin Sheridan, the blogger who has embarrassed the Moriarty tribunal into posting all the transcripts of 370 days of public sittings on the internet.

Sheridan first applied for the transcripts to the Department of An Taoiseach, under Freedom of Information.

It refused on the basis that they can be purchased from Doyle Court Reporters.

Doyles quoted a fee of €16,600 with a discount of 25% for anyone bulk buying.

“I did suggest that since the public had already paid nearly €1 million for the transcripts, it seemed a little odd that I, as a citizen, have to fork out another €16,600 to get copies.”

Sheridan writes on thestorey.ie.

Talk to the Moriarty tribunal, it suggested. So he did, and they said copyright rested with Doyles.

They later relented, offering Sheridan a disc with the transcripts, but such was the volume of requests that the tribunal is now posting everything online.

A small, but significant victory for freedom of information.

Some questions that come to mind.

What kind of contract does Doyle Court Reporters have with the state and how is it that the Moriarty Tribunal can, on the one hand, say that DCR have copyright and then, on the other hand, publish all the material?