The relaunched IPA journal, Administration
Administration, published by the Institute of Public Administration, has just been re-launched and includes an article by Minister Howlin on ‘Reform of the Public Service’.
Announcement of a Claiming Our Future event
COF IDEAS – REINVENTING OUR DEMOCRACY A NATIONAL DISCUSSION IN: CROKE PARK, DUBLIN ON: 26TH MAY REGISTRATION: 10 AM Individuals and organizations from the full breadth of civil society will explore new ideas on democracy and share their thinking with each other on how to reinvent our democracy. Register now and join the discussion in…
Constitutional Assembly – TCD student submission
Posted by Elaine Byrne As part of a class project on deliberative democracy and the Constitutional Assembly, these are the views of the Comparative Political Reform, Senior Sophister Class, Department of Political Science, Trinity College Dublin Brief Background Statement A renewed focus on the nature of the democracy in the aftermath of the Arab spring and…
Second Republic AGM March 3rd at Odessa Club
The civic group, Second Republic, who have been involved in campaigning for a Citizens’ Assembly for Political Reform, will hold their second AGM in Dublin on Saturday week.Time: 10:00-13:00 and 14:00-16:30 Date: Saturday, 3 March Venue: Odessa Club, 14 Dame Court, Dublin 2. The AGM will happen very shortly after the Government will have announced…
Constitutional Convention looks to include a citizen assembly
It is great to see that the Government is making good on its word to establish a Constitutional Convention, see report here. There are many parts of the 1937 Constitution which should be looked at from a political reform perspective. Some of these including reducing the voting age, allowing gay marriage and abolishing the Seanad…
G1000: Belgium’s Citizens’ Summit
Posted by David Farrell (November 12, 2011) On November 11, 800 citizens from across Belgium were brought together to discuss the future of their country. G1000 was conceived a few months ago by a small group of Belgian citizens (the key player is a prominent author and columnist, David van Reybrouck; the others are a…
Oireachtas Referendum – The wrong reform
Posted by Elaine Byrne For the last ten years, Ireland was one of the only modern democratic parliaments in the world which was legally prevented from inquiring into matters of national importance. Thursday’s referendum to overturn the 2002 Maguire v Ardagh Supreme Court decision on the Oireachtas Abbeylara inquiry seeks to rectify that. In principle, parliaments should…
An Irish Citizens’ Assembly is promised by Phil Hogan
Post by David Farrell (October 22 2011) Speaking at a roundtable on political reform last night that was organized by the Political Studies Association of Ireland, Minister Hogan said that details about the proposed constitutional convention will be confirmed within weeks of the presidential election. And, he made it clear that a citizens’ assembly would…
Political Studies Association of Ireland annual conference, Dublin, October 21-23
Post by David Farrell (October 17) This year’s PSAI takes place on October 21-23, in the Royal Irish Academy on the Friday and Newman House (Stephens Green) on the Saturday and Sunday. The over-arching theme of this year’s conference is “political reform in Ireland”. Details about the conference and how to register are available here.…
Seanad Public Consultation Committee
Posted by Elaine Byrne As part of a process of internal reform, the Seanad have established the Seanad Public Consultation Committee (SPCC) which will be launched next week. According to the Oireachtas press release, this Committee will use new procedures to open up access to the Seanad and to invite submissions from the Public. It…
Irish Politics Forum 