What is a Citizens' Assembly?
A Citizens' Assembly is a temporary body of ordinary people asked to think hard about one issue. The Oireachtas passes a resolution that sets the topic and the deadline. A chair, who is not a politician, runs the meetings. Members hear from experts and from groups on different sides, discuss in small tables, and then vote on a set of recommendations.
The idea is called deliberative democracy. A Dáil vote shows what parties want, and an opinion poll shows what people think today. An assembly shows what a cross-section of the public thinks after it has heard the evidence.
The Oireachtas sets the question
A resolution of the Dáil and Seanad gives the assembly its topic, its timetable and its chair.
Members are picked at random
A polling company selects voters from the electoral register so the group broadly reflects the country by age, gender, region and social class.
Weekend meetings
Members hear experts and advocacy groups, take part in small-group discussion and put questions to speakers.
Members vote
The assembly votes on each question, and the results are published, including how close they were.
A report goes to the Oireachtas
The report is normally referred to an Oireachtas committee, and the Government then decides what to do.
The assemblies so far, and what happened next
The official Citizens' Assembly website lists six bodies, beginning with the Convention on the Constitution.
| Body | Question | What followed |
|---|---|---|
| Convention on the Constitution (2012 to 2014) | Nine topics, including same-sex marriage. It had 100 members: a chair, 66 citizens and 33 politicians. | Its marriage recommendation led to the referendum of 22 May 2015, which passed. |
| Citizens' Assembly (2016 to 2018), chaired by Mary Laffoy | The Eighth Amendment, an ageing population, climate change, how referendums are held and fixed-term parliaments. | The Eighth Amendment report led to the referendum of 25 May 2018, which repealed it with about 66% Yes. |
| Gender Equality (2020 to 2021), chaired by Catherine Day | Gender equality, including the Constitution's reference to women's life within the home. | In March 2024 two related amendments, on family and on care, were both rejected. |
| Dublin Citizens' Assembly (2022) | Whether Dublin should have a directly elected mayor, and with what powers. | Members backed a plebiscite (59%). None has been held, and in May 2024 the Taoiseach said none was planned. |
| Biodiversity Loss (2022 to 2023) | How the State should respond to biodiversity loss. It made 159 recommendations. | Asked for a referendum on environmental rights. In October 2024 the Government said over 90% of the recommendations were implemented or in progress. No referendum has been held. |
| Drugs Use (2023), chaired by Paul Reid | How Ireland should respond to illicit drug use. It made 36 recommendations in January 2024. | A health-led approach was backed narrowly. The National Drugs Strategy 2026 to 2030 draws on them. |
The 2024 result is a useful warning about the limits of the process. The Gender Equality assembly recommended replacing the Constitution's reference to women's duties in the home, but the wording the Government put to voters in March 2024 was rejected by about two-thirds of those who voted on family and by about three-quarters on care. A recommendation from an assembly does not guarantee a Yes vote.
What an assembly can and cannot do
| Citizens' Assembly | Referendum | |
|---|---|---|
| Who takes part | Around 100 randomly selected citizens | Every voter on the register |
| How long | Several months of weekend meetings | One polling day |
| What it produces | Recommendations | A binding Yes or No on the exact wording |
| Can it change the Constitution? | No | Yes, if the Oireachtas has first passed the Bill |
Oireachtas committees do a related job. They hold hearings and write reports, but their members are elected TDs and Senators rather than citizens selected by lot.How Oireachtas committees work.
The step that matters most is the vote by the people.How Irish referendums work.
Common assumption: A Citizens' Assembly can change the Constitution.
In fact: It can only recommend. The Oireachtas must pass a Bill and voters must approve it in a referendum.
Common assumption: Political parties choose the members.
In fact: Citizens are picked at random from the electoral register to broadly reflect the population. The Convention on the Constitution was the exception, since it also had 33 politicians.
Common assumption: The Government has to follow the recommendations.
In fact: It does not. It can accept, change or ignore them, and the Dublin mayor and biodiversity recommendations show that this can take years.
Assemblies, conventions and what is happening now
No Citizens' Assembly is sitting at the time of writing. The previous Government promised one on education, but the pledge was dropped from the current programme for government and set up a Convention on Education instead. It has 150 members, gives young people aged 8 to 24 equal weight, is chaired by Anne Looney, and held its first meeting in Athlone on 21 March 2026. It meets over four weekends, the last on 14 and 15 November 2026, and will then give recommendations to Government to inform a long-term education strategy.
The Minister for Education argued that a convention suited the subject better than an assembly of 99. Whether that is right is a fair question for students of civic life. A larger group that includes young people is a different design from a small group chosen at random.
Sources
- Citizens' Assembly: previous assemblies
- Citizens Information: the Citizens' Assembly
- Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss: final report launch
- Government response to the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss (NPWS)
- Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use: summary of 36 recommendations
- Dublin Citizens' Assembly: final report, 1 December 2022
- Irish Times: minister defends education convention (21 March 2026)