Txt us, ok? Calls for return of council's text alert service

Athlone area councillors have criticised a decision by Westmeath County Council to discontinue its text messaging information service for people in the county.
The service was launched by the council in 2013, in a bid to keep people informed of news and updates about the local authority's work.
People who chose to subscribe could receive news relating to the Athlone or Mullingar areas.
At the April meeting of the Athlone Municipal District, council official Barry Kehoe said the texts were not being sent out any longer and there were no plans to revive the service.
He said the council's management felt texting "has been overtaken by social media," and the council would instead focus on providing updates through sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Athlone Mayor Aengus O'Rourke was "disappointed" by this news, as he still felt text and WhatsApp messages were the best way of keeping people updated.
"Everyone has a device in their pocket and they are easily contacted," he said.
Cllr Tom Farrell agreed fully with Cllr O'Rourke. "I am not on Twitter. I am of a generation that can deal with texts and WhatsApp, but beyond that I am lost," he said.
Certain demographics "don't engage with social media" according to Cllr Paul Hogan, who felt the council should be using all means of communication, including texts and social media updates.
"How many (mobile) numbers do we have at the moment, and has a text even gone out to tell those people that the service has been discontinued and that they should check out our social media channels for updates?" he said.
Cllr John Dolan also spoke about the importance of text messaging, saying that if a delivery was coming to his home he would always get a text message telling him it's on its way.
"Often rumours can spread and these rumours can be allayed with the facts, in the form of a text message," he said. "It can let people know if something has gone wrong, if it will be fixed, and when."
Cllr O'Rourke said it would now be a matter for the councillors to try to get the service up and running again, and to put out notices encouraging people to sign up for it.
"I hear what you're saying," Mr Kehoe told the councillors. He said he didn't have details to hand on the number of people who had signed up for the council's text alerts, but it had been a "small" number.
He said that during Storm Emma and Storm Ophelia, many people had been engaging with the council's updates that were issued through social media channels.