Civil liberties group calls for blueprint for Citizen’s Assembly on 8th Amendment

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has called on the Government to publish the “full blueprint” for the “Citizen’s Assembly” on the repeal of the 8th Amendment of the Constitution.

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe earlier indicated to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that the assembly would resemble the Constitutional Convention that produced recommendations relating to same-sex marriage.

Mr Donohoe said: “There will be a Citizen’s Assembly that will consider this matter in the way the Marriage Equality issue was considered.

“The process that we have committed to in relation to considering this issue will happen, and it is my view that that will lead to a referendum on this issue in the coming years.”

Mark Kelly, executive director of the ICCL, said: “Minister Donohoe’s announcement this morning would appear to be another direct outworking of Ireland’s appearance before the UN Human Rights Council yesterday, at which its restrictive abortion regime was harshly criticised.

“The Convention on the Constitution model proved to be a highly-effective means of debating sensitive matters in an intelligent and nuanced way, leading to a cross-party consensus on proposals to be put to the people.

“The Irish Council for Civil Liberties believes that it is now incumbent upon the Government to publish its full blueprint for the new Citizen’s Assembly on Repeal of the 8th Amendment that the Tánaiste yesterday promised the United Nations would be up and running within six months.”