New to Substack

X v Facebook v BlueSky v Substack??

I decided quite a few months ago to delete my accounts from X and Facebook for a variety of reasons: I was concerned about the amount of time I was spending online and the effect it was having on my own children. The hypocrisy of our own rules around ‘screen time’ and yet the hours I spent on social media every day. I was also worried about how my data was being used and sold, how my photos and any videos I posted could be manipulated and used, especially in the age of deep-fakes. But mainly, it was having a presence on platforms that promoted hate and intolerance, owned by narcistic billionaires with nefarious agendas that eventually compelled me to leave.

As such, I needed to find a new way of communicating the work I’ve been doing since I began my role as a councillor with Galway City Council nearly 3 years ago. For me, being open, transparent and honest are some of the most important traits an elected representative of a community can have. This requires finding mediums and media that would reach as many of my constituents as possible.

I began a monthly newsletter two years ago containing updates on council decisions, news from the council chamber, and work I’ve been involved in. I created a website, www.cllralancurran.com, where I’ve collated all these newsletters and I keep it updated with information pertaining to motions I’ve been working on, and pledges that I made during the election campaign that I am determined to uphold. Recently I put together a more detailed quarterly newsletter than was hand-delivered to over 5,000 households in the west ward over the last month. The feedback on this was overwhelmingly positive that I’m going to continue to produce one every quarter for the length of this council term.

However, I’ve found that the newsletter and monthly updates can sometimes be out of date before I finish the first draft, and I’ve been looking for a new way to send out quick updates on what happened on a specific day, during a specific meeting, whether it’s a monthly plenary meeting, a budgetary discussion, or a meeting in one of the two SPC’s (strategic policy committees) that I sit. I also don’t want to be restricted to 180 characters, so a blog like this, on substack, might be the way to go.

I’ll see how I get on over the next few months with this, and if you think I should be doing anything different, or can suggest another way of improving communication, please let me know. My email address is alan.curran@cgcc.ie.

Alan