Stop laughing.
YOU can do it.
Oliver Moran writes:
In December the Government set up a working group to make recommendations for Seanad reform. The working group has set a closing date of January 20 for public submissions, which should be sent to: seanadreformwg@taoiseach.gov.ie.
Given this extremely short deadline for the public to express their views, Second Republic have set up a public survey, which we will use as the basis for an omnibus submission. Several hundred people have already taken part. Interested readers can participate at the link below. The more people participate, the more democratic we can make Seanad reform. Thank you.
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Excellent, thanks for this.
+60
What a load of horse crap. If there are any changes they will only be small ones to make people happy while they go back to unqualified morons claiming as much expenses as they can.
No point in doing anything, so. We may as well just sit around moaning.
Well we had a chance to do something but the majority thought things where fine as they are.
No, the majority didn’t think that abolishing even a dysfunctional brake on the Dail was a good idea.
That did not mean the majority thought the brake shouldn’t be fixed. That wasn’t the question that they were asked and saying that it was is the kind of thing we should leave to spin doctors and liars.
It’s never going to happen though.
Anyone know who Second Republic are? Are they tied to any political party? or have any leanings?
We were founded in November 2010 in response to a letter to the Irish Times inviting people to form a credible campaign group for political reform.
As a group, we have no political leanings and no party associations. Individual members and supporters come from all backgrounds (young, old, urban, rural, rich, poor, left, right).
A unique feature of the group is that we don’t usually campaign for specific reforms (e.g. how the Seanad should be reformed). Instead, we campaign to keep political reform high on the political agenda and specifically that everyday citizens should have a central role in deciding reform.
So this is a pretty typical campaign for us: We’re not going to make a submission saying how we think the Seanad should be reformed. We’re going to make a submission saying how you think the Seanad should be reformed. (And scold the working group at the same time for not holding a genuine public consultation phase.)
Nice to hear.
Easy way to help – share this link around:
http://www.2nd-republic.ie/site/our-campaigns/seanad-reform-survey
I completed that survey, but I would have to say I found the questions very loaded. I can’t say it will be taken as an objective study as all the answers seem to be pulling the participant in a particular way.
I like your initiative though, keep it up
Second Republic, First Republic, whatever…
Every senator should be made inhale helium to distract credibility from his/her statements
This nonsense again? Things haven’t changed since 2013 lads.
https://www.broadsheet.ie/2013/09/03/not-good-enough-to-save-not-bad-enough-to-abolish/#comment-711176
Ah ffs. Reform it, abolish it, paint it pink and slap a bow on it – the entire “debate” over what to do with the seanad is a large, attention-soaking distraction from the real requirement for reform, which is to eliminate the current disregard by the Government side for the Opposition side, usually expressed by using the party whip system to make any Dail or Seanad ‘vote’ a mockery of the term; a disregard that also means that neither side has any regard for the Electorate except for during the General Election once every few years for a few weeks (and immediately forgotten five seconds after the polls close).
That’s why, when the entire Opposition side gets up and walks out, the Government side keeps on making a speech to empty air and then gets to completely legally hold the vote, win it, and pass the bill.
It’s why we regard politician’s promises during elections as nearly apocryphal examples of things you shouldn’t depend on – and it’s why they regard them the same way.
And worse, this applies to their positions on policies as well, and when you can rely on a politician’s policy stances to be irrelevant after the election, you really don’t have a vote anymore in a representative democracy like ours, because you’re being asked to choose between candidates who’ll do exactly the same thing if elected.
Until that’s fixed, you can do whatever you want to the Seanad because the entire Oireachtas is dysfunctional.
And it does not matter who’s in the Government seats and who’s in the Opposition seats, this is the one truely non-partisan thing in Irish politics, and it will continue until we do something drastic, like abolishing the party whip system as unconstitutional (something that’s already been done in other countries for the same reason) .
Not this one, the Liberte one.
its not a distraction its the upper house of our parliament, you don’t not reform Seanad as much as you can becausae you’re waiting for Dail to be reformed.
…what?
Do you not know the whip applies in both houses?
yes so?
I see the Irish Seanad has 60 seats, none elected by universal vote.
Australia, with 23 million people, have a Senate of 76 seats. All of them are directly elected by the people. The Aussie Upper House has real power to block bills, change legislation, scrutinise Government activity. It is rare for the Lower House Government to have a majority in the Upper House. This usually has a moderating effect on the Government.
I know which system I prefer.
Filled out the questionnaire, hopefully some proper change will come of this.
Thanks for taking this initiative Oliver. Please simply ignore the empty brains and reactionary gobshites.