Quotes about citizens' assemblies
From Ireland's citizens’ assembly:
‘I think this issue in Ireland could never have gotten to the point we’re at today were it not for the CA. I think we would have been years getting there, if we ever got there' Kate O’Donnell (serving member of Fine Gael)
"So I would say we probably put a couple of hundred hours of total time into it which is probably more than any parliamentary party committee would have put into it. So we’re probably the best informed amateurs in the country on this topic at the moment." John Long 56
"The CA was very respectful and very congenial to everybody’s opinion. So there were no major arguments or disputes here at the CA." John Long 56
"It’s not just a particular type of people and they’ve gone to college and they’ve studied something and they’re all making views in it. You get to hear what the ordinary people, the people that it affects on the ground, how they feel about something. What they would like to change about it and then go about it in a political manner after gaining all of the information." Noreen O’Flynn
"If you are cynical about your politician’s ability to change legislation, pass legislation or come up with legislation but if there’s an issue that’s burning to your society in general - have an assembly." David Keogh
From the French Citizens’ Climate Convention:
"I understand that people busy to try to feed their family don't care about #climate policies but each of us can contribute to our future. Democracy means each of us can speak up. We were not controlled by experts or the governance committee." Agny
"We saw the weight of lobbies. I'm an electrician. If I set your house on fire, would you hire me again? Why do we let powerful industries pollute the planet? I'm disappointed." Grégory
"The problem is trust. We had the #greatnationaldebate the #conventioncitoyenne... When are we going to listen to citizens? We believe in this. Can we make our society better. I want to open the debate. We need to talk about this with our representatives" Samyr
"The #conventioncitoyenne does not end tonight. The door is just opening. See you soon" (paraphrased quote) Sylvie
"The #conventioncitoyenne gives me a lot of hope, it's the only way we can address the emergency of #climatechange" Mohamed