The Civic Forum for Northern Ireland was a consultative body in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

created in 2000 under the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...

and consisting of members of various civil bodies. It had no legislative or governmental powers. It last met in 2002. The 2014

Stormont House Agreement The Stormont House Agreement is a political accommodation between the British and Irish governments, and a majority of parties that make up the Northern Ireland Executive. The agreement was published on 23 December 2014. The Stormont House Agreem ...

envisages recreation of the forum on a smaller scale with the title Civic Advisory Panel.

History

The Forum was set up in October 2000.Details of the Members of the Civic Forum
CAIN Web Service It was initially chaired by Chris Gibson. Other members included

Gary McMichael Gary McMichael (born 1969) is a Northern Ireland community activist, and retired politician. He was the leader of the short-lived Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) during the Northern Ireland peace process, and was instrumental in organizing the Loy ...

. The body was suspended along with the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

in 2002. In June 2007, the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister stated, "At this stage we are simply ascertaining how many of the current members are available and will decide then whether to recall them based on their responses." In 2011, in response to questions in the

, the

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of '' ...

said:

Following the restoration of devolved powers in May 2007, the then First Minister and deputy First Minister considered the position of the Civic Forum in the re-established devolved arrangements and decided to commission a review of the effectiveness and appropriateness of its structure, operation and membership. The review was also to make recommendations on the most appropriate mechanism for engaging with civic society ....There was no widespread desire for a return to a structure of the size and expense of the Civic Forum as it had previously operated. Accordingly, there have been no meetings of the Civic Forum during this Assembly mandate, which has also resulted in considerable savings to the public purse. ...At the same time, I do not, in any way, want to leave the impression that we want to reduce the connection with our community. We want to continue having consultation. For instance, because of the economic downturn, the deputy First Minister and I brought together a group of stakeholders from across the community. We did that without those people getting or seeking any expenses, which indicates that people are willing to give their views without having elaborate and expensive structures.

In April 2013, the Assembly voted to recall the Forum. A study of participants found that most welcomed this, although many argued that the forum should become smaller and have a clearer agenda. However, in November 2015, the

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...

and

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

agreed that, instead of reconvening the forum, they would establish a small civil advisory panel.Paul Nolan and Robin Wilson,
Dialogue and engagement: lessons from the Northern Ireland Civic Forum
,

Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) is a philanthropic grant making trust that supports work undertaken in the UK and Ireland, and previously South Africa. It is one of three original trusts set up by Joseph Rowntree in 1904. The Trust ...

, December 2015

Composition

Members are appointed from the following sectors: * Agriculture and fisheries (3) * Arts and sport (4) * Business (7) * Churches (5) * Community relations (2) * Culture (4) * Education (2) * Trade unionism (7) * Victims of terrorism (2) * Voluntary and community sectors (18) In addition, there are three nominees of the

First Minister of Northern Ireland The First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland are the joint heads of government of the Northern Ireland Executive and have overall responsibility for the running of the Executive Office. Despite the different titles for the two ...

and three of the Deputy First Minister.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Civic Forum For Northern Ireland Organizations established in 2000 Political organisations based in Northern Ireland 2000 establishments in Northern Ireland

History

Composition

See also

References