Could a separate youth constituency improve participation/representation levels?
Adrian Kavanagh, 22nd November 2010 Could a separate youth constituency improve participation/representation levels amongst the younger section of the electorate?
Radical poltical reform needed
In his weekly column in The Irish Times yesterday Stephen Collins argued cogently that radical political reform will be an urgent task of the new government Collins argues that it is now blindingly obvious that our multi-seat system of proportional representation played a big role in bringing us to where we are. “The system throws…
Irish State Administration Database
posted by Elaine Byrne The excellent Irish State Administration Database is now accessible at http://www.isad.ie This resource provides a dataset capturing the establishment, growth and evolution of Ireland’s state administration from the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 to the present. In so doing, it constitutes a major research infrastructure for the humanities…
The Agreement Generation: An Opportunity for Change?
Posted by David Farrell (November 12, 2010) UCD’s John Hume Institute will be hosting a one day conference on the 17th November looking at the opportunity for change created by the Agreement Generation, those raised with the peace process and the 1998 Agreement. The peace process, the passage of time and generations with different frames…
By-election court decision demonstrates the consequences of Ireland’s institutional sclerosis
By Matt Wall The policy of indefinite delay of outstanding by-elections that has been pursued by the current government has lead to a withering assessment by Mr. Justice Nicholas Kearns; the report in today’s Irish Independent reproduces the most damning statements from the judgment, which are as follows:
Update: Citizens’ Assemblies presentation by Carty
Prof Ken Carty’s presentation on citizens’ assemblies and political reform at the Policy Institute, Trinity College Dublin http://www.tcd.ie/policy-institute/citizensassembly.php Media references and photographs of Prof Ken Carty’s seminar:
Citizens’ Assembly – The case of Germany
Posted by Elaine Byrne Derek Scally in today’s Irish Times on ‘Ireland needs a national forum for cogent debate.’ In particular he writes about: “Three years on, the country is crying out for meaningful public debate beyond media bun fights and political soundbites. This debate needs a home, a place where civil society and politics…
If Not Now, When? Why we need parliamentary reform.
Posted by Matt Wall. Gay Mitchell’s article in this morning’s Irish Times again raises the issue of Oireachtas reform. While the text of the article focuses on the development of the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mitchell lays out 7 steps that he feels would improve parliamentary oversight writ large. I would love…
Latest Red C Poll – Fianna Fail down to just 32 seats?
Adrian Kavanagh 23 September 2010 Latest Red C Poll figures, to be published in tomorrow’s (24 October) Sunday Business Post – Fianna Fail 18% (down 6%), Fine Gael 32% (up 1%), LAB 27% (up 4%), Green Party 4% (up 1%), Sinn Fein 9% (down 1%), Independents/Other small parties 10% (up 2%) On these figures, my constituency level…
An election more powerful than consensus?
Many people seem to believe that a cross party consensus on a four-year economic plan is a good thing. While agreement that the budget needs to brought back towards balance is positive, demanding agreement on the policies necessary to get there is nonsense. What we need is an election and a government that has a…
Irish Politics Forum 