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)
"I was afraid coming the first day. It was 98 people that I’ve never met before...I walked in and met people, kind of similar age and we just got all talking and we were all kind of apprehensive about it but we kind of fell into it quite quickly." Noeren O’Flynn Student 22
"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
"It’s been a very difficult process, I’ll be honest, it hasn’t been a walk in the park...it is not an easy topic...I think as a group, I think we’ve managed to, I suppose, support each other through that." Louise Caldwell Mum of 3, self-employed events manager, 39
"Unlike other debates that have taken place, in referenda, in the past in Ireland, 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
"...but we found that in some of the sessions we had, we were given legal, medical, we were given ethical, moral, religious, and then social as well, and then the advocacy groups as well, we had all of them too. But I found that first of all, some of the sessions like the legal and the medical were head melting because there was so much information and I am not a lawyer and I’m not a doctor so we didn’t understand half of it. …”How am I going to process this?” But the mechanism that they had set up with the assembly, how it was done, question and answer, roundtable discussions and everything and the presenters of the speeches and that hung around and answered your question and it wasn’t the case that it was a stupid question, it didn’t have to be a stupid question, or it could have been a stupid question, it was answered. But you always felt, at the end of it, you understood what it was they were telling you." David Keogh, truck driver, 47
"I wouldn’t say that the process has changed my view terribly much but it has significantly deepened my understanding of the topic...so yeah, my understanding would have increased exponentially." Louise Caldwell
"For myself, personally, I would have been in the middle...I would have been strongly in favour of Ireland liberalising its abortion laws...but as time went on and as we were getting more and more information and as it was totally fact-based, unbiased totally, I saw myself moving, and I think a lot of people actually did here...I was surprised...started moving to a pro-choice position to the extent that we surprised the whole country...that we voted for radically liberalising the abortion laws in Ireland.” John Long
"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
"There just seems to be a political disconnect all over the Western World for the traditional political parties and this isn’t...its a new layer of democracy...you can’t have too much democracy...And democracy should be an expression of the will of the people...we’re an expression of the will of the people." John Long
From the French Citizens’ Climate Convention:
"How can we reach -40% of green gas emissions if we don't change the engine of our economies? The bad grade we gave government is not surprising. We won't reach the goal of curbing green gas emissions. The #conventioncitoyenne was extraordinary. Let's do more of them." Guy
"Our #conventioncitoyenne also empowered experts and NGOs who have speaking for years without being listened to. We gave them a platform. But alas we were not listened to either. It's a pity that politicians are swallowed by the power of money and lobbyists." Muriel
"I don't know about you but now I read bills about climate on Sunday mornings... This #conventioncitoyenne it's been a progress for democracy." Mélanie
"We need to create a special status for citizens who participate in a future #conventioncitoyenne so that they can afford to devote more time to their participation. I didn't have that luxury after September. I admire those who spent so much of their free time on it." Mickaël
"I regret we couldn't debate at more than 150. There needs to be more #conventioncitoyenne in the future but with a different model. We need a model where citizens build a program with politicians not against. We need shorter, but possibly larger conventions" Willam
"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
"@emmanuelmacron's promise of "without filtering" was venom for our work. We were not conscious of the phenomenal weight of lobbies. From this experiment I retain that we have a capacity for wonder that I can't find in our representatives. I'm in awe of all this. Bravo" Sylvain
"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. Let's not say this was no use." Agny
"This #conventioncitoyenne was a success because we learned a lot. But when we met @EmmanuelMacron in June he vetoed 3 propositions right off the bat despite the promise of "without filtering." If our proposals got watered down, it's his fault." (paraphrased quote) Ousmane
"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
"If you think the #conventioncitoyenne was too small to change things, try sleeping with a mosquito. Let's not give up!" Benoît
"As long as #Citizensassemblies are consultative, they won't make a difference. We need a third chamber. Or to replace half the Senate with randomly selected citizens. Otherwise nothing will go through" (paraphrased quote) Victor commenting on the results of the #conventioncitoyenne
"I really believed in this. It was an incredible experience, we showed the world, the youth, what citizens are capable of. Exceptional democratic experiment that I'm happy to have lived through at my age. But disappointed in the result. It feels like we were had." Nicolas (17)
"We missed from the beginning a better contact/connection with officials." Interesting point, suggests that the collaborative work with government and parliamentarians should have started earlier. Does this mean hybrid assemblies?" (paraphrased quote) Marie-Hélène
"Conventions can't last too long. We saw careerism emerge among citizens after 9 months, just like among elected officials. It's not a panacea." Pierre nuances: Clearly annoyed by some "star-citizens" that the French media focuses on…
"The Convention was beautiful but our impact is disappointing." Alexia
"The #Conventioncitoyenne is just one democratic perspective, among many" Denis
"The Citizen Convention can improve democratic life but the government needs to be taken more seriously because we were not." Helen
"This Assembly was a beautiful thing. Who would have thought we could have listened to each other this way…" Pierre
"Our message shouldn't be accusatory and conflictual. We're just the beginning. The #conventioncitoyenne's strength is to pull society. We 150 have already become 1500 and more. I'm convinced that this CCC is formidably useful. Don't focus on the now only. We're viral!" Hubert
"We should let the researchers speak up on these matters because we don't have the distance." First time I hear anyone call on us researchers in this Convention. A number of missed opportunities if you ask me (esp. re-question of "referendum or not" last June)" Isabelle
Guy tackles the government and the lack of consideration for Parliament in the French system. He thinks the work of the #CCC won't be taken into account because government put a wall between citizens and parliamentarians.
"Our message shouldn't be accusatory and conflictual. We're just the beginning. The #conventioncitoyenne's strength is to pull society. We 150 have already become 1500 and more. I'm convinced that this CCC is formidably useful. Don't focus on the now only. We're viral!" Hubert
"The #conventioncitoyenne gives me a lot of hope, it's the only way we can address the emergency of #climatechange" Mohamed
"We've become business cards for politicians in search of greenwashing opportunities. The media talked about us but not about the #climate emergency. We need more #conventioncitoyennes, but more transparent and more collaborative with politicians and intermediary bodies." Yolande