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.

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.

It is not a bad idea. Just too easily subverted.