Obstacles to constitutional participation: Lessons from diverse voices in post-Brexit Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland

Abstract

A challenge for constitutional processes is to facilitate popular participation, including among marginalised groups. Uneven inclusion is highly likely ‘upstream’, in the early stages when ground rules and foundational principles guiding constitutional change are fleshed out, and particularly so in deeply divided societies. This article explores the obstacles to such inclusion in constitutional discussion in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after Brexit, asking what ‘other’ voices (including women’s groups, ethnic minorities and youth) experience as barriers to participation and how they suggest these barriers can be overcome. We categorise barriers as situational, emotional and discursive, and show that discursive obstacles are experienced as the principal barrier to participation. We argue that an inclusive process requires not simply new institutional frameworks and agendas for deliberation, but also an overhaul of channels between policymakers and grassroots, enabling policymakers to communicate policy constraints and facilitating grassroots’ critique into policy.