On 23 October 2012, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste announced Mr. Tom Arnold’s appointment as Chairperson of the Convention on the Constitution. Mr. Arnold is the chief executive of the charity Concern Worldwide as well as chairman of the Irish Times Trust and a director of the Irish Times Ltd.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny, in announcing the appointment stated “Tom’s strong personal commitment to justice and to improving the lives of citizens around the world makes him an ideal choice for this task”
Mr Arnold, accepting the post, said “It is a great honour for me to be appointed chairperson of the Convention on the Constitution. I will do my best to ensure that every member of the Convention gets an opportunity to contribute to the work of the Convention.”
The Convention will consider and make recommendations to the Oireachtas on the following matters:
1. Reducing the presidential term of office to five years and aligning it with local and European elections;
2. Reducing the voting age to seventeen;
3. Review of the Dail’s electoral system;
4. Giving citizens resident outside the state the right to vote in Presidential elections;
5. Provision for same-sex marriage;
6. Amending the clause on the role of women in the home and encouraging greater participation of women in public life;
7. Increasing women’s participation in politics;
8. Removal of the offence of blasphemy from the Constitution; and
9. Other such relevant constitutional amendments that may be recommended to it.
The Convention comprises of 100 members. The number includes 66 members of the public, chosen randomly from the electoral register, and 33 elected representatives, drawn from the Houses of the Oireachtas, and a parliamentarian from each of the parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The first meeting of the Convention will take place on Saturday 1 December 2012 in Dublin Castle.
Click here to read a government press release and another.
Click here to read a Journal article.