Right To Know

Description

Right To Know is an Irish organisation. It uses Freedom of Information law and related access-to-information rules to get and publish documents from public bodies. It is run by a small group of directors who are journalists and right-to-information advocates.

One director is a blogger and activist who has filed Freedom of Information requests since 2009. He has pursued cases before the Information Commissioner, the High Court and the Supreme Court. These include the release of the Trichet Letters and a ruling that the National Asset Management Agency counts as a public authority under environmental information rules.

Other directors are working journalists with backgrounds in investigative reporting, multimedia and newsroom technology. They have worked with outlets such as the RTE Investigations Unit, Noteworthy, Storyful and The New York Times. The organisation is also supported by advisors who are data and investigative journalists, based at outlets including The Guardian, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and The Currency. Several of these advisors also train other journalists in data journalism and investigative techniques.

Right To Know is represented in legal matters by FP Logue Solicitors, showing that litigation over access to information is part of its work. The group maintains links to allied transparency and freedom-of-information projects in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe, including Digital Rights Ireland, Diritto Di Sapere in Italy and Informationsfreiheit in Austria.

Overall, the organisation combines investigative journalism, legal advocacy and freedom of information requests. Its aim is to increase public access to government and public-body records in Ireland.