THE 66 ordinary citizens taking part in the 100-member constitutional convention are to be chosen on balance between gender, age and regional origin.
Oireachtas members of the body will reflect parliamentary strengths and so, predominantly, come from the Fine Gael and Labour ranks.
There will be 33 elected representatives, including some from Northern Ireland, as well as the independent chair.
Age-groups in this category are likely to be represented as follows, with equal numbers of men and women: 12 between 18 and 24 years; 26 between 25 and 44; 18 from 45 to 64; and 10 aged over 65 years.
Regional representation is expected to be as follows, again on a gender and age-balanced basis: 20 from Dublin; 17 from Leinster; 18 from Munster; and 11 from Connacht-Ulster.
In today’s Irish Times, Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore confirm that training will be provided for members for the first meeting and during the year so that everyone can play a full part. They write that it is intended that the convention complete its work within one year of its first public meeting, expected to take place in September.
Meanwhile, more than 60 organisations are protesting against their exclusion from membership of the body and have signed a Civil Society Charter for a Constitutional Convention.
They include Amnesty International, Concern, Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), Irish Refugee Council, National Traveller Women’s Forum, National Women’s Council of Ireland and Transparency International.
The organisations are calling on the Government to create a convention that is “participative, inclusive and meaningful. Sufficient resources should be made available to facilitate . . . meaningful consultation with, education of, and participation by members of the public, civil society and other interested stakeholders.
“An open and transparent appointments process should ensure that membership of the Convention is balanced, representative,” states the charter.
“The express exclusion of civil society from the constitutional convention is simply not good enough,” said director of the ICCL Mark Kelly. “The wide range of signatories to today’s charter is a measure of the real anger and disappointment felt across Ireland at the Government’s failure to deliver on what it promised before the election – a credible, accessible and effective forum for constitutional reform.”
Criticising the terms of the Dáil resolution for the convention, executive director of Amnesty International Ireland Colm O’Gorman said: “The resolution being brought forward today only allows for the convention to consider other constitutional amendments once the Government’s current list of issues is complete.
“Why, once again, are the human rights of people living in Ireland placed at the back of the queue?”
