Ireland should follow Iceland with new constitution

Posted by Bronwen Maher on November 29, 2010 at 11:16 AM

Labour MEP Nessa Childers welcomed last weekend’s vote in crisis-hit Iceland for an assembly of ordinary people who will re-write the country's constitution.
 
"Like us, the Icelanders have endured a terrible economical and political crisis. It is time to fundamentally reassess how our state operates. A revised constitution would establish a new social contract between the state institutions and all its citizens in a process that can help us on the road to national renewal and recovery. The Icelandic process is similar to that which has already been called for by Eamon Gilmore earlier this year.
 
"There is a lot in Bunreacht na hÉireann that has served us well, but it was written in the 1930s for the 1930s. And if we are to truly learn from the experience of this crisis, then we need to look critically again at the fundamental rules that bind the state and its citizens.
 
"As soon as a new government is in place and the economy has been stabilised, we should start a national discussion on the outlines of such a new constitutional framework.

“I would personally like to see serious political reform including reform of our PR-STV voting system, which is nearly unique in the world. We need to find a more balanced electoral system whereby not all our TDs must be so focused on local issues often at the expense of a national perspective. The corollary of this should be a comprehensive reform of local government to devolve real power to people at community level and reform of the Seanad to fulfil the new Oireachtas oversight powers under the Lisbon Treaty.
 
“Our constitution belongs to the people, not just to our political institutions. So any review must be a people's process, like they have undertaken in Iceland.

“Over 500 candidates are contesting a place on an assembly of up to 31 people who will work together on a charter to replace the one adopted when Iceland became independent from Denmark in 1944. Anyone is eligible to stand, except the president, MPs and the committee appointed to organise the assembly. The candidates include lorry drivers, university professors, lawyers, journalists and IT experts. All have been given equal airtime on Icelandic radio to make their platforms ands ideas known.

"Our constitutional review should include experts and specialists and individual private citizens randomly chosen to serve in much the same way that we choose juries. The aim should be to have it ready for the 100th anniversary of the 1916 rising.”

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