Mr. R?n?n ? Domhnaill:

One of the areas where media development can step into that role is where it is really struggling, that is, local media. In the past few years, we have learned that when people lose trust in local democracy, the next logical step is to lose trust in national democracy and, therefore, journalism schemes hope to ensure that there is increased coverage of local democracy, including local authority meetings, local policing meetings and so on. That is available on a platform-neutral basis. It will be open to all types of media to apply for those schemes.

It is the same for court reporting. Justice not only has to be done; it has to be seen to be done. Sometimes, not all, but some, local outlets may not have the resources to cover that fully. We expect to be able to step in there. These schemes are the first step and they will expand, and there will be more schemes over the years ahead as well.

That is where development can step in.