Brendan Smith urges reinstatement of civic forum in Northern Ireland
Brendan Smith addressed constitutional change and civic engagement, stressing the need to fully implement existing agreements such as the Good Friday Agreement, the Stormont House Agreement and the New Decade, New Approach. He urged politicians to reinstate and use civic mechanisms — including the civic forum and civic advisory panel — and supported detailed preparation for consultation and the idea of a citizens assembly.
Main argument
Brendan Smith argued that constitutional change, including aspirations for a united Ireland, should follow the mechanisms in the Good Friday Agreement and be supported by detailed preparation. He emphasised maximising the potential of existing political architecture rather than creating parallel arrangements.
Implementation gaps in agreements
He said it was disappointing that many aspects of the Good Friday Agreement have not been implemented and stressed the importance of honouring commitments in the New Decade, New Approach without delay for the benefit of all on the island.
Civic forum history and deficiency
He recalled that the civic forum was established in 2000 after advocacy from groups including the Women’s Coalition but has not met since 2002. He described the absence of the civic forum as a significant gap in engaging civic society on social, economic and cultural issues.
Civic advisory panel and citizens assembly potential
Brendan Smith noted there is a provision for a civic advisory panel which has not been put in place or used, and he framed the citizens assembly idea as complementary to broader efforts to listen to young people and civic voices. He said reinstating these mechanisms would send a strong message that different voices can be heard in Northern Ireland.
Speakers and contributions referenced
He thanked guests for their presentations, acknowledged missing part of the session due to connection issues, and referenced contributions from Neil, Laura, Reverend Karen and Niall when stressing the need for consultation and civic engagement.
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Thank you very much, and could I just thank our guests for the presentation. Apologies, I missed some of it earlier on because I had a difficulty getting connected. Could I just say that Neil, in one of his responses there, made the point of a detailed preparation for what I, along with others, want to see in the future, constitutional change on our island, and like many others, I aspire to united Ireland to be achieved through the mechanisms laid out in the Good Friday Agreement. And it's extremely important that detailed preparation is made in every respect. And one thing that I have always, and I have repeated ad nauseum at this particular committee, is the need to utilise and maximise the potential of the existing agreements and political architecture that's in place already, with the Good Friday Agreement, with the Stormont House Agreement, and with the new decade, new approach. And all of those are important pieces of the political architecture on this island, and predominantly the Good Friday Agreement. And I've always believed that it's most disappointing that all of its aspects have not been implemented. And we know at the present time how important commitments that have been made in the new decade, new approach are. And we sincerely hope that they will be honoured without delay for the benefit of all the people of this island. And one of the things, and one of the things, and Reverend Karen, Mr. Lund had left us to go to the announcement of the results of the Inquestion of the Ballymuffie Massacre. From memory, in the multi-party talks, the Women's Coalition were powerful advocates for a civic forum. The civic forum was subsequently, as a result of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, established in 2000. And unfortunately, it hasn't met since 2002. And its purpose was to have a means of consulting civic society to ensure a better understanding of social, economic and cultural issues. And, you know, we all know that such types of assemblies are prevalent throughout the world, associated with different parliaments and parliamentary systems. And I have always believed that there has been a huge lacuna there without the civic forum to involve and engage civic society. And the contributions that we heard from Laura, from Reverend Karen and from Niall focus very much on involving civic society. And you speak about a citizens assembly. But unfortunately, we have a provision for a civic advisory panel that hasn't been put in place or being used at the present time. And maybe I'm not saying that that would solve the problems of our country. But I believe it would be an important message to give out to civic society in Northern Ireland that that mechanism that is provided for in the Good Friday Agreement, Stormont House Agreement, that the politicians will put that structure in place and ensure that the different voices that all of you our guests talked about today, that they can be listened to. And if I got the theme or the message coming from the young people that the Reverend Karen quoted, it was about the need to listen and to consult. So surely you're advocating very strongly about the potential for a citizens assembly in Ireland. Could you comment on the deficiency that we have at the present time in not having the civic forum and that it could contribute something to the general debate, not just about constitution issues, but economic, social and cultural issues as well. Thank you. Thank you.
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