The Convention on the Constitution is preparing to hold its first meeting west of the Shannon in Galway next week. The meeting will take place in NUI Galway (Áras Moyola Lecture Theatre, North Campus ) on October 30 at 7.30pm, and Galway citizens have been invited to attend.
The meeting in Galway is one of nine public meetings across Ireland in October and November. These meetings will help to set the agenda as the Convention selects a number of constitutional issues to look at in the final module of its work programme.
The next plenary meeting of the Convention (in Dublin ) is on November 2/3 to discuss the removal of the offence of blasphemy from the Constitution. Following this meeting, the Convention will be free to make recommendations for further constitutional amendment as it sees fit.
The meeting in NUI Galway will be addressed by guest speaker Professor Donncha O'Connell who is Head of the School of Law at NUI Galway. Professor O’Connell is an expert on Constitutional Law and European Human Rights. Speaking today, he said that the Convention on the Constitution has made some very worthwhile recommendations for constitutional reform in the past year.
"The Convention is to be commended for organising a series of meetings around the country to ascertain the views of citizens and members of the public on what other issues of constitutional reform it should address in the remaining period of its existence.
"Every effort at deliberative democracy should be valued. Citizens of Galway should avail of the opportunity to have their views heard in a forum in which those views will be respected and valued. I hope there is a great attendance with vibrant and challenging contributions from members of the public," he added.
Professor Donncha O'Connell is the Head of the School of Law at NUI Galway. He is also a part-time Commissioner of the Law Reform Commission and a member of the Legal Aid Board. He edits the Irish Human Rights Law Review published biennially by Clarus Press. He has, in the past, been a member of the boards of INTERIGHTS, Amnesty International - Ireland and the Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC ). From 1999 to 2002 he was the first full-time Director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL ). He will address the public meeting of the Convention on the Constitution in a personal capacity.
The Chairman of the Convention on the Constitution, Mr Tom Arnold, said he was delighted to announce that they will be visiting Galway to listen to the wide range of issues which citizens believe that the Convention on the Constitution should consider.
The Convention on the Constitution is citizens’ forum and it is essential that Irish citizens are able to make their views known and have their say. Members of the Convention are very keen to hear citizens' views and I would like to welcome people living in Galway to come along and get involved in the process.”
The Convention session hosted at NUI Galway will be streamed live on Wednesday October 30 beginning at 7.30pm at www.nuigalway.ie/live
