The first session in a National Citizens’ Parliament as part of the MeDeMap Project, undertaken by the department of Media & Communications at Mary immaculate College (MIC), recently took place on the MIC Limerick campus.
This European-wide project will see citizens in a number of cities recruited with the aim of future-proofing media for the protection and support of democracy. The Limerick group will convene for four Saturdays on the MIC Limerick to discuss the issues and challenges that face journalists in trying to protect democracy. Each day they will be addressed by members of the media, academics and activists to get a clear understanding of the problems and dangers we face in these troubled times. MIC is leading the Irish arm of the research in a consortium of 10 HEI’s from across other European countries—Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany and Slovenia
At the first session on 22 March, Denis Wolinski, former broadcast regulator with OFCOM in the UK and the BAI in Ireland, spoke to the Parliament about democracy - how it works and how it often doesn’t work. He was followed by Dr Fergal Quinn, Head of the Department of Journalism in the University of Limerick (UL) who talked about the importance of journalism in protecting democracy and the public interest. He also outlined the need for protection of journalists and the difficulties and threats that they face today.
At the end of each day, the 20 strong group then formulates resolutions to be voted on. These will be presented to all levels of government from Limerick City and County Council to the Oireachtas and right up to the European Union. Two of the local citizens will receive the opportunity join representatives of the other national citizens’ parliaments in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany and Slovenia to present their resolutions to MEPs and members of the EU Commission in Brussels in spring 2026.
Discussing the project, Dr Rosemary Day, Co-ordinator and Head of the Department of Media & Communications Studies said: “The MeDeMap Project is an important attempt to protect the media that protect democracy. We live in troubling times and current trends in today's fast-changing media landscape can lead to confusion and a loss of trust in our media. By consulting journalists, politicians and most importantly, the people the research will map future pathways to protect both media and democracy. This huge EU-funded project is being conducted across Europe and the most exciting phase of the research is taking place right now with the National Citizens’ Parliament meetings in Limerick.
Each week, the citizens debate and deliberate on different aspects of the interplay between media and politics and they formulate resolutions or recommendations to safeguard our journalists and our political system. The resolutions of the Irish parliament will be presented by the citizens who made them in Brussels in 2026 and to the Limerick City and County Council and The Oireachtas Committee in Leinster House as well as to Comisiún na Meán and the NUJ. So, legislators, policymakers, regulators and journalists will all see what the public actually think is important and they can draw on the national parliaments’ findings to future-proof against emergent threats to our democracy within our media and information sphere.”
Along with Rosemary, researchers on the project are Jude McInerney and Kathy Cush (Media and Communications Department, MIC).
Other sessions of the ‘parliament’ will take place on 5 April, 26 April and finally, 10 May.
If you would like to know more about this innovative and important way of accessing citizens’ opinions and making an impact on legislation, regulation and codes of practice for the media in Limerick, Ireland and Europe you can check out MIC/MeDeMAP or email MeDeMap@mic.ul.ie.
