The inaugural meeting of the new Irish Citizens’ Assembly was held in Dublin Castle last Saturday. Its establishment and the fact that it follows in the wake of the 2012-14 Constitutional Convention marks Ireland out as a world first in the repeated use of a ‘mini-public’ (deliberative) approach to constitutional review, an approach that includes…
A (still very preliminary) reaction to the Programme for Government proposal that was launched this afternoon (available here). There is a lot of food for thought here. A lot of interesting proposals – at least on paper – and also some daft ones. Certainly a lot to chew over. A fair bit of things that…
A free event to be held at UCD Newman House, November 13, 2015, 9.30am-1.00pm To register, see here Ireland’s Convention on the Constitution, which met from late 2012 to early 2014, was a world first both in allowing ordinary citizens a place in discussions about the future of our Constitution and also due to its role in the…
In the light of the marriage equality and presidential age referendums last week – both the product of recommendations of the Constitutional Convention, a review of the current state of play of government responses to the Convention’s recommendations is timely. The attached table gives the current situation as of today: ICC recommendations as of May 2015
There are many people and organisations to credit for the outcome of the marriage referendum, not least the incredible campaign mounted by the Yes side, as described by Noel Whelan in today’s Irish Times. A question to ask is whether this referendum would ever have happened but for the huge endorsement this issue received from…
Location: FitzGerald Debating Chamber, Student Centre, UCD What kind of institutions can be framed to deal with the challenges of the 21st century, while maintaining the spirit of a republic? The structure of political institutions and the quality of public and civic life were long-standing concerns for Dr Garret FitzGerald. The third annual UCD Garret…
*Declaration of interest: I am the research director of the Convention (in a voluntary capacity). Last weekend, the Constitutional Convention completed its work. At its closing dinner last Saturday, the snappy slogan on the menu summed things up well: ‘100 members, 10 meetings, 1 constitution’. With a budget of some €900,000 and a deadline of…
In the week that’s in it…. Earlier today it was announced on the Irish Constitutional Convention’s website that the convention members have decided that the last two meetings of the convention shall be focused on Dáil reform and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. And reports suggest that this week we will have the formal government…
Declaration of interest: The author is the research director of the Irish Constitutional Convention The Irish Constitutional Convention has almost completed its work. At its most recent meeting it dealt with the last of the eight topics assigned to it by the Government. All that remains is for the Convention to use its remaining time…
Post by Dr Peter Stone (TCD) In Aristotle’s day, people took it for granted that democracy meant selection by lottery, and aristocracy meant elections. Today, most people assume that a democratic society elects all of its officials. But a growing movement believes that we should revisit selection by lottery as a means of curing the…
Irish Politics Forum 