Journalists are being barred from council meetings on a “worryingly escalating scale”, a local democracy reporter has warned.

Donal McMahon, who works for Reach plc’s Belfast Live website under the BBC-funded scheme, has accused a number of local authorities across Northern Ireland of trying to “effectively shut out” the public from decision-making.

His remarks come after he revealed how Newry, Mourne and Down Council had held almost 100 confidential sessions this year, while Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council came under fire over the number of behind closed doors meetings.

Under the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014, exclusion of the press and public can be advised if “information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person” is up for discussion.

Speaking to HTFP, Donal said: “Confidential sessions in Northern Ireland councils are a phenomenon that many journalists are currently witnessing on a worryingly escalating scale.

“By preventing journalists from listening to decision-making in council chambers, the public is effectively shut out from how matters, that affect them and their children directly are being made.

“Some councillors, who are against the secret sessions have stated that they feel legal advice presented to them is putting them under pressure to agree to close down the cameras and shut the doors to the very people who voted them into office.

“They feel they’re unable to discuss important matters to the public floor and the advice they are being given by officials is overly-restrictive.

“It still takes two councillors to vote matters into confidential session, without that vote journalists would be allowed to do their work.

“These actions of secret sessions can only suggest that democracy is being eroded to the point that elected representatives could be shielded from accountability to the electorate.”

Donal, pictured, reported earlier this year that Newry, Mourne and Down had discussed 98 items concerning public money behind closed doors between March and May.

And Councillor Alex Swan, an Ulster Unionist Party member at Lisburn and Castlereagh, last week told him: “I feel that all too often council committees go into confidential ‘mode’ when it’s not absolutely necessary for the effective running of the council.

“I suspect a good number of the newer members of council would agree with me.

“There are times when it’s absolutely necessary to discuss an issue privately, however a cynic could say that all too often it’s done to hide councillors’ blushes.”

Senior figures at both councils have defended the practice.

A Newry, Mourne and Down Council spokesperson said: “Confidential sessions can be held if information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person, including the council holding that information is being discussed and therefore the public may, by resolution, be excluded during this item of business.”

Cllr David Drysdale, who represents the Democratic Unionist Party, the largest party on Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, told Donal: “The public needs to understand that the amount of responsibility councillors now have is far greater than it was when the legacy councils were operating.

“We are now given legal advice to go into confidential session and this is done due to data protection and other legal matters. Many find the new super-councils too austere.

“Though as councillors we are making many decisions now on multi-million-pound matters. At times when we are in confidential session you can think, come on here let’s have a bit of common sense and you can roll your eyes to say, is this absolutely necessary?

“However, we are guided by the legal advice to protect anyone from being sued. Northern Ireland for some reason has a very different access to judicial reviews, which can cost a small amount of money for someone to take action compared to the mainland, so precaution is required.”