Save Castlebar.ie

Save Castlebar.ie (www.savecastlebarie.org) has been sent up in response to the closure of Castlebar.ie on the 31st May 2008.

It is stated on Castlebar.ie that moderators received a threat of legal action from Mr Tony Geraghty, Editor of The Mayo Echo after offensive posts were made in response to an article published in that paper. The moderators removed not just the specific posts requested by Mr Geraghty, but also all posts relating to the Mayo Echo, and published an apology however the threat of legal action still remains.

THE IMPACT

Castlebar.ie has been running for over ten years and has become an important part of many peoples lives in Castlebar and further afield. Castlebar.ie had over 3.8 million hits last month, a testimony to its popularity. The bulletin board has been described as the heart of the site and moderators feel that if it is no longer possible to have robust discussions on a matter of public interest then it is no longer possible to run a voluntary website where freedom of information is an integral component.

It is understood by Save Castlebar.ie that the Irish legal system can leave moderators of websites such as Castlebar.ie personally responsible for contentious comments of other posters.

The volunteer moderators at Castlebar.ie have very strict policies and are very quick to remove offending posts on request regardless of the merit of the complaint. However the moderators at Castlebar.ie state that they simply feel that it is no longer viable to continue with this site as a result of exposing themselves and their families to threats of legal action and harassment.

THE RESPONSE

Save Castlebar.ie feel strongly it is a shame to lose such a valued community resource and their objectives are to have the threat of legal action removed and for Castlebar.ie to return to normal service with immediate effect.

On resumption of normal service Save Castlebar.ie would like to find ways to support the volunteer moderators in their roles by investigating how we can reduce their personal exposure to threats of legal action.


I respectfully request that The Mayo Echo accept the apology of castlebar.ie and remove any threat of legal action against castlebar.ie.