Ireland’s experiments in deliberative democracy | Prof David Farrell | PEriTiA Inaugural Symposium

The success of the Irish Citizens' Assembly project, started in 2011, was influential in the decision to establish the Irish Constitutional Convention and the Irish Citizens’ Assembly – both of which played a significant role in the successful referenda on marriage equality and overturning the 8th Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland.

However as successful as the model has been in Ireland and elsewhere University College Dublin Professor David Farrell says the full story behind citizens' assemblies is more mixed.

Speaking of his experiences at the inaugural symposium for PeriTiA (Policy, Expertise and Trust in Action) – a new University College Dublin led Horizon 2020 project addressing trustworthiness of scientific expertise – Professor Farrell noted that legalising gay marriage was just one of nine reports that the Constitutional Convention delivered to the government.

Meanwhile, the Citizens' Assembly's recommendations on abortion might be well documented less so is its examination of other issues including voting reform and climate change. Many of these recommendations have been ignored by the Irish Government.

These mixed results, Professor Farrell says, illustrate a number of limitations inherent in deliberative democracy, and throw up a set of important questions about how these assemblies work.

An academic from the UCD School of Politics and International Relations, Professor Farrell was named as the 2019 recipient of the Brown Democracy Medal for his work on the Irish Citizens' Assembly Project.

The Brown Democracy medal, awarded by the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State University, showcases the best projects being done to advance democracy across the globe.

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Funded for three years by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme, PeriTiA will explore the conditions under which people trust expert opinion that shapes public policy.

Begun in February 2020, the project will bring together over 20 philosophers, social and natural scientists, policy experts, ethicists, psychologists, media specialists and civil society organisations to study trust in and the trustworthiness of policy related expert opinion.

PEriTiA Inaugural Symposium “Trust in a Changing World” took place March 2, 2020 in Newman House, University College Dublin

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