We are a not-for-profit focused on vindicating the rights of citizens to access information and on publishing stories based on using those rights.
Advocacy:
At Right To Know we believe making more documents available about how government makes decisions and how public resources are allocated strengthens our democracy. We want to support people making requests and appeals through Freedom of Information legislation, but also we have identified deficiencies and problems with how these laws are implemented.
To this end, as well as seeking documents and data under these laws, we will also seek to push the boundaries on the rights these laws give to citizens, up to and including if necessary, court action to help vindicate the public interest.
Investigations:
Our publishing arm is TheStory.ie – one of Ireland’s only not-for-profit media sources.
We conduct FOI-sourced investigations, collate useful information into one place, and publish the results regularly to our news website.
We also publish some of these stories in association with national news outlets in order to ensure maximum reach, all in pursuit of promoting greater government transparency and making information about the state accessible to all.
Our Objectives:
1) Vigorously pursue the public’s right to know utilising all tools available, including the FOI Act 2014, the Access to Information on the Environment Regulations 2007 – 2014, Regulation 1049/2001, and the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015.
2) File access to information requests and appeal refusals where we believe a right needs to be vindicated.
3) Publish documents and data we receive – either directly or indirectly – online.
4) Assist and train citizens, journalists and NGOs to vindicate their rights to access information. As a small not-for-profit with very limited resources, we are not in position to provide such assistance or training for free.
5) Make important documents available online that have previously only existed in hard copy.
6) Partner with news organisations or NGOs to investigate stories in the public interest.
Got Questions about our work?
You can email requests@righttoknow.ie or see our FAQ page.