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Press Release: Full Report on the Citizens’ Assembly for Northern Ireland
The report, published today, shows positive attitudes of MLAs towards citizens’ assemblies. The first citizens’ assembly for Northern Ireland met in October and November 2018 to discuss the future of social care for older people. A survey carried out...
read moreParticipant evaluations of the Citizens’ Assembly for Northern Ireland
Today, we are launching a Summary of Participant Evaluations of the Citizens' Assembly for Northern Ireland at the Belfast Imagine Festival Democracy Day. The report summarises the evaluations from the citizens who took part in the citizens' assembly based on their...
read moreGuest Post: Reflections on Citizens’ Assemblies
By Dr. Roslyn Fuller I grew up in rural, relatively sparsely populated Canada, and perhaps because of that one thing that I’ve never fully adjusted to is how many people there are in the world. Ten thousand people, a hundred thousand people, ten million people. Any...
read moreGuest Post: What might a Citizens’ Assembly look at next?
By Robin Wilson Now that we’ve realised the first citizens’ assembly in Northern Ireland, which took place in Belfast last month, why stop at one? The Citizens’ Assembly in the republic is itself a sequel to the Constitutional Convention, building on the success of...
read moreGuest Post: The people of Northern Ireland don’t live up to their hype
By Paul Braithwaite I was fortunate enough to be one of the table facilitators at Northern Ireland’s first ever Citizens’ Assembly this autumn. Cards on the table - I’ve been an enthusiast for citizens’ assemblies since I first heard about them a few years back and...
read moreGuest Post: I was an observer at the Citizens’ Assembly; here’s what I learned.
By Darren O'Rourke The arguments in support of Citizens’ Assemblies are many. Bring a group of randomly selected citizens together, provide them with balanced information and allow them to discuss, deliberate, and reach a resolution in a considered and measured way....
read moreInterim Report on the Resolutions and Recommendations
The Citizens’ Assembly for Northern Ireland was set the task to: Explore aspirations for social care for older people, including the role the health service, communities and individuals need to play. Develop useful, realistic recommendations for delivering a...
read moreA journey from learning to deliberation and decision making
An insight into Weekend 2 of the Citizens’ Assembly for Northern Ireland Kaela Scott As 75 members of the Citizens’ Assembly for Northern Ireland converged on the Europa Hotel on Friday 16 November for their second weekend, there was a real buzz in the room – members...
read moreGuest Post: When Citizens Assemble
by David McBurney I had read about Assemblies in Ireland, Canada and the Netherlands that had successfully placed the citizen at the heart of decision-making, so I was excited to see how an exercise in deliberative democracy closer to home would work in practice. The...
read moreGuest Post: Learning about social care for older people in Northern Ireland
by Alexandra Chapman The Citizens’ Assembly for Northern Ireland has been tasked with examining social care for older people and providing recommendations for future provision. This could not come at a more appropriate time as the need and urgency to reform adult...
read moreA window into the first weekend of the Citizens’ Assembly for Northern Ireland
by Kaela Scott Members of the Citizens Assembly gathered for the first time on the top floor of the Europa hotel on Friday 26 October for dinner. It was a chance to meet each other and find out a little more about how the Citizens' Assembly would work… and, despite...
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