Ireland has one of the most centralised decision-making processes in Europe. This is one of the reasons why the legitimacy of so many decisions is challenged. And yet there is no way to see and assess the range and depth of this challenge and therefore no way to assess the health of our democracy.

Living Democracy intends to give visibility to all of the initiatives happening across the country, so that active citizens everywhere can begin to see themselves as participants in a wider movement for democratic improvement and change.

As stories are added to this site we will create a nationwide map to make visible where citizens are most active and draw attention to areas where the democratic process seems to be most challenged and most fragile.

This database will also serve as a resource through which active citizens can learn from the experience of others. So we invite you to share your story to help build this map and pass on some of your learning to others.

Add your story by clicking here

Citizen Participation 

Living Democracy highlights different and  contrasting experiences of citizen participation: the M3 / Tara Story is an example of where wider concerns were not taken into account, the Dolphin's Barn Story illustrates how citizens' wider concerns were reflected in the final outcome; and the Pallaskenry/Kildimo story from County Limerick tells of a local rural community's ongoing struggle to have their voices heard.

M3 Motorway and the Tara Landscape

Citizens came together to challenge what they saw as a flawed public consultation process regarding the proposed building of a motorway through the Tara landscape, which is acknowledged internationally as one of the richest archaeological landscapes in Europe. The process effectively divided the community, continues to be shrouded in controversy and ignores the wider issues of public transport and national heritage. The story told here is the hidden story behind the high profile Tara story: it is an outline of the way in which the initial public consultation process failed to protect the Tara landscape. Read Story Here.

Save Tara is an active campaigning group http://www.savetara.com/

Dolphins Barn, Dublin city

Following the rejection for planning permission for a major brown-field site, Dublin City Council took the initiative to develop a framework plan for the area.

They appointed a progressive UK architectural and urban / community design consultancy firm who used a simple and efficient yet entirely participative two-day process which involved the community in developing a framework plan for their area in real-time.

When the community’s concerns were taken on board by the developer in a revised proposal, the final planning permission was granted.  Read More

Pallaskenry/Kildimo Water Retention Campaign 

The Pallaskenry/Kildimo Water Retention Committee  in County Limerick has been in dispute with Limerick County Council since 1994 in an attempt to retain their local spring water supply.  Bleach Lough, with no history of pollution, has been supplying clean water to their area for generations and now supplies approx. 1200 homes. Limerick County Council wants to mix in heavily treated water from the river Deal, acknowledged by the Environmental Protection Agency as one of the most polluted rivers in Ireland, containing raw sewerage, dead animals, leach from LCC’s landfill sites and industrial pollution.   Read More

 Blessington, Co Wicklow

The original proposal to develop 700 houses in a small village was refused planning permission. By invoking their rights to be the architects of their own future under Local Agenda 21, the local community engaged in a process to re-imagine this development to include a range of community amenities for young people, families and the elderly which improved the shape and impact of the final development. This was a meaningful participation by the local community which resulted in a win-win outcome for both the developer and the community.

Cork Harbour

The building of a national toxic waste incinerator in Cork harbour, involving many agencies (E.P.A.  Cork County Council, An Board Pleanála) is a process which ignored all of the development plans for the area and revealed  the revolving door relationship between private sector interests and public sector decision-making processes. By dividing up the responsibilities between so many agencies nobody can be held responsible for the overall environmental and health impacts of the project.

http://www.chaseireland.org/

Thornton Hall, North County Dublin  

This is a proposed development of a super prison and national mental health institution on rolling farmland at Thornton, North County Dublin. The choice of this location was rushed, the decision was made in three short weeks, and was based on incomplete, inaccurate and misleading information. In addition, because it is being developed under Part 9 of the Planning Acts and as a Public Private Partnership the proposed project is free from the normal planning regulations and explicitly excludes effective citizen input. This project goes against Fingal County Council’s development plan and is totally opposed by Fingal County Council, and if it is allowed to proceed will result in the rezoning of hundreds of acres of farmland and the transformation of a rural community.