5 2018 DELEGATE MEETING


Members of the Irish delegation at the 2018 Delegate Meeting in Southport last month. Photo: Paul Hermann


DM seeks review of how NUJ meets its members’ needs


The National Executive Council has been called on to set up a working group to examine members’ needs and whether those needs are being met effectively, in a motion tabled at the 2018 Delegate Meeting in Southport. The motion, brought forward by the Dublin


Freelance branch, instructed the NEC to present to the 2020 delegate meeting the blueprint and proposals for any necessary rules changes stemming from the review. The conference approved that motion two


years ago but it was not acted on, so the branch decided to bring it back. Kieran Fagan, treasurer of Dublin Freelance,


told the Irish Journalist that the union has adapted and worked well since it was established more than a century ago. Still, he said, “The world of work has changed so much recently.” Those changes and their impact were reflected in the motion, which noted: “The


working group should take as its starting point the fact that many of the rules and practices that served us well in the 20th century do not necessarily equip us well for the 21st, and that a complete review and rethink is required.” Kieran said they wanted to have “a blank piece


of paper on which ideas could be kicked around – just put everything on the table”. Such a broad- ranging review could include everything from the way the NUJ recruits and encourages members; to rethinking the way branches and chapels are organised, given the increasing number of media professionals who may work outside of newsrooms and other traditional media workplaces. “I suspect that where there are good ideas


they will come out of co-operating with each other,” Kieran said. Kieran said union officials are working very


hard on the daily issues that the union addresses, “but we don’t seem to have a forum where we think long-term”.


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