2013 Press Releases
UCC expert advises on constitution
UCC lecturer, Dr Clodagh Harris, has been appointed to the Academic and Legal group of Ireland’s Constitutional Convention.
The Convention was established by the Government late last year to examine issues of Constitutional reform. A unique deliberative process that includes 66 randomly selected citizens and 33 political representatives from parties across the island of Ireland, the Convention has been tasked with making recommendations on issues as diverse as reviewing the Dáil electoral system and provision for same-sex marriage. It is chaired by Tom Arnold, CEO of Concern and will meet on at least eight week-ends over the course of the year.
A specialist in deliberative democracy, Dr Harris, who is based in UCC’s Department of Government, is part of a team of five academic and legal experts whose role includes supporting the Chair of the Convention and the Secretariat in: the management of the Convention’s meetings; recommending names for the advisory panel and gathering feedback from the members.
The Convention’s first round of deliberations took place in Malahide last month at the end of which it recommended reducing the voting age to 16 and maintaining the length of the Presidential term at seven years. Expert presentations were made at this event by Dr Theresa Reidy (UCC) and Professor Robert Elgie (DCU).
The Convention welcomes public submissions which can be made through www.constitution.ie