Constitutional convention needed

We, the undersigned, call on the Government to establish a constitutional convention that is capable of fulfilling the Programme for Government’s commitment to “a real shift in power from the State to the citizen”.

To achieve this, we believe there are some key issues that the cabinet needs to address before proceeding with the convention. The work of the convention must be transparent, accessible and open to public participation at every stage of the process.

There should be an education campaign through the media so that citizens can be fully informed about the convention and its activities. The scope of topics for consideration by the convention is too narrow and will do little to reform political institutions or strengthen citizen rights in Ireland.