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Lazy web suggestion: The People’s Ard Fheis
Read more about: Blogging, Democracy, Irish Election, Irish Politics, Labour Party, Parties, Polls, Sinn Féin
I was speaking with Damien about this a minute ago and figured there was no harm in putting the idea out there as a “lazy web” suggestion.
We in Ireland are about to be bombarded with a near constant stream of party Ard Fheiseanna, as all parties try to turn heads and get noticed in an important election year.
Bar the Extraordinary Ard Fheis set up by Sinn Fein for the end of the month (which will only cover one issue), the first one on the way is Labour’s, which I believe is in February (thanks Keith).
Anyway, my idea is a People’s Ard Fheis (thanks to Damien for the suggested name) to be held a month (or so) before the general election, which would probably make it April or May.
The event would take the exact same form as a political party ard fheis, with motions being put forward, debates being held and votes being taken. The only difference is that all of the above would be done by normal people, not politicians or party members.
There are a number of things to be taken from this event. It would be a great forum for debate, it would be a great way for politically aware people to meet up (and for those who want to become more politically aware to be able to hear a wide range of ideas) and it could also be seen as a great temperature gauge as the country prepares to vote on its next Government.
The reason why I’m putting this forward as a lazy web suggestion is because the idea has just hit my head and it’s something that would require plenty of planning involving plenty of people if it were to succeed.
So, what do you think?
So people who aren’t members of parties aren’t allowed participate? How will you know if they are or not? I suspect you will be inundated with the usual collection of ‘community activits’ and minority political opinions that convince themselves the public is only waiting for their message.
It is not a bad idea. Just too easily subverted.
I know what you are saying Dan. But I guess Adams prob with people from political parties will tow the party line to much. Never critising where criticism is due.
Labour’s National Conference is February 10th.
Oh no, people from political parties would be more than welcome.
The idea would be to get as close to a representative sample of the public (or the politically aware public, whatever) involved in the ard fheis… that would include people with strong ideals, party loyalties and even those who support a party for no reason other than their heritage.
Of course, it’s a fair point that it could be easily subverted and that would be one of the more important aspects that would require attention.
For a start, as a symbol of goodwill, it would probably be good to ask those wishing to attend to declare their membership with parties or lobby groups etc. (something that could be done privately - if they don’t wish to attend the thing with a ‘I Love Fianna Fail sticker on, I can totally respect that - the important thing is that the balance is right.)
Of course, some won’t comply with that and this may cause issues, but there are likely ways around this if the right brain is put to the task.
As for motions, they’d obviously be nominated before the actual event so any over-repetition of a single topic could be dealt with (ie, ten questions on gun ownership could probably be condensed into one).
Thanks for that too, Keith.
Good idea, it seems similar to the deliberation days which James Fishkin pushes wherever he gets an opportunity. I think its a very good idea. With the right mix of debate and information dissemination it could be highly effective.
I’ll bite.
An Ard Fheis has a purpose- the electing of a particular government.
What would be the purpose of this one?
An Ard Fheis has a purpose- the electing of a particular government.
What would be the purpose of this one?
Is the election of a particular government decided in a general election… an ard fheis is supposed to be about a party debating policy, coming to decisions on direction as a group etc.
Of course that may not be entirely the case anymore, and in an election year at least it’s often used by parties as a long party political broadcast.
The purpose of a People’s Ard Fheis would be to try and have a large scale public debate on election issues, a meeting of minds and ideas a potentially good way of taking the public temperature in a way that polls just don’t allow.
Very interested in this. Hijacking would happen but is likely to be fairly obvious and i suspect the interested parties would be able to identify the party hacks.