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From our Blog

Referendums are not the problem – its the Constitution . . . . 12/03/2024
By Ken Carty, The University of British Columbia. Well over a decade ago now Theresa Reidy posted a blog comment asking “Referendums in Ireland, how many more can we take?” Rather than addressing the numerical question head on she went on to note how ineffective the process was as a mechanism for democratic policy-making. Few…
Theresa Reidy
Post referendum reflections 10/03/2024
By Michael Gallagher 1. Previous post didn’t contain a prediction, but did observe that there were many considerations that could lead electors to a No vote while the benefits of a Yes outcome were uncertain and contested. Margin of defeat for the two proposals has taken everyone by surprise. 2. Many of the Yes advocates…
Michael Gallagher
The outcome of the March 2024 referendums 06/03/2024
By Michael Gallagher So, the nation is (far from) convulsed by the two referendums that will take place on Friday, the ‘family amendment’ and the ‘care amendment’. (Of course, these could be seen as merely the warm-up before the really big referendum of the year, the eagerly-awaited vote on the Unified Patent Court that’s due…
Michael Gallagher
The Cost of Doing Politics in Ireland: A Survey of Politicians’ Experiences of Political Violence 26/02/2024
This blog marks the launch of preliminary results from a national survey of candidates on the topic of political violence in the Republic of Ireland. The survey was carried out by Fiona Buckley (UCC), Lisa Keenan (TCD), and Mack Mariani (Xavier University), and is part of the cross-national The Cost of Doing Politics: Gender Aspects…
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My Word! ‘Preferendum’… et Maintenant le Préférendum 06/10/2023
By Peter Emerson, Director of the de Borda Institute. Ireland’s contributions to the development of the world’s democratic structures have not been many… and not always positive. In 1818, the first dictator to get 100% in a referendum when he became El Supremo is Chile was the Irishman, Bernardo O’Higgins. Thus he put into second…
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