The Geary Seminar Series - 15th October 2024

On the 15th October we welcomed Prof Joanne McEvoy, Professor of Politics, University of Aberdeen. Prof Joanne McEvoy was a guest of Prof Jennifer Todd, Geary Institute and SPIRe and visited the Geary Institute as part of the Geary BICS Funding Scheme. Title: ‘Facilitating Grassroots Constitutional Deliberation, North and South’ Abstract: How can local communities deliberate on Ireland’s constitutional future, North and South? What are the benefits and challenges involved in cross-community and cross-border deliberation, and how might this best work in practice? I draw on research conducted over the past four years to explore what it means for the grassroots to engage in constitutional deliberation, what ordinary people wish to bring to the discussion, and how they can shape the agenda. I identify the obstacles they perceive to their participation in constitutional discussion and how linkages need to be facilitated between local communities and policymakers. Introducing new collaborative work, I suggest ways to move forward by creating a template for grassroots constitutional deliberation to be used more widely across the island in ways that can enhance inclusion and the legitimacy of both process and outcome. I connect this new work as innovative practice that speaks to important debates in the scholarship on deliberative democracy and has significant policy implications.