Is Ireland a democracy

national | rights, freedoms and repression | press release

Tuesday January 06, 2004 19:00

by Ireland Democracy - NUI

call for submissions

Every now and again most of us get the chance to cast a vote for those who aspire to govern us. Are these occasional performances of supposed popular consultation sufficient though to qualify the Irish Republic for the status of a democracy?

Preliminary Call for Conference Papers

Is Ireland a Democracy?

NUI Maynooth, April 2nd and 3rd 2004

Every now and again most of us get the chance to cast a vote for those who aspire to govern us. Are these occasional performances of supposed popular consultation sufficient though to qualify the Irish Republic for the status of a democracy?

We would suggest not. Over the last few years we have seen the further centralisation of political power within Ireland, the ceding of sovereignty to unelected bodies outside the state, the relentless narrowing of civil society and the systematic erosion of the rights and protections afforded to citizens and non-citizens alike. The steady accumulation of these worrying trends poses a stark and crucial question for all of those who aspire to live in a genuinely plural and progressive society: Is Ireland a Democracy?

In this conference we will seek to offer a radical evaluation of public life and civil society in the Irish Republic. The papers presented will provide a critical examination of the nature and limits of democratic process and practice in the state. Among the issues that will be addressed are the following:

Are the institutions of the Irish state transparent and accountable? What rights do citizens have when official power oversteps the mark?
Does the Irish Republic have a fair and independent judiciary? Is there one law for the rich and another for the poor?
Is there a genuinely diverse and dynamic public debate on the key issues that affect us all? Do the media do enough to hold the government to account and to allow dissenting voices to be heard?
Is there sufficient space within Irish political life and civil society for the voices of women?
Does the existing public order legislation represent a danger to civil liberties? Is the right to protest under threat?
How much influence do multinational institutions such as the European Union and the World Trade Organisation exercise over our lives? How can unelected multinational bodies be made more answerable to the citizens of supposedly sovereign states like our own?
Is Ireland in the process of becoming part of the institutions of western military hegemony? How can more than 100 000 people take to the streets of Dublin and still have no material impact upon the conduct of Irish foreign policy? Why is Shannon still being used as a principal conduit for American military operations in the Persian Gulf?
Are corporations operating in Ireland accountable for their actions? Why is it that we have the lowest rate of corporation tax in the EU? How come the state is targeting householders who consume waste rather than the companies that produce it in the first place?
Why are many recent immigrants to this country denied elementary rights of citizenship? How can children born in Ireland be deemed not to be citizens simply because their parents were born elsewhere?

The conference will be held in the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, County Kildare on Friday April 2nd and Saturday April 3rd 2004. It is hoped that it will be attended by academics and non-academics, statutory bodies and non governmental organisations, representatives of political parties and social movements, Irish people and those from elsewhere.

Anyone wishing to present a paper should submit a 250 word abstract to arrive no later than Monday February 16th 2004. Abstracts can be mailed to us at :

Michael.j.murray@may.ie, colin.coulter@may.ie or irelanddemocracy@may.ie

Further information on costs, accommodation and childcare provision will be distributed early in the New Year.