The Alliance party has voted against a call for a “New Ireland Forum” and citizen's assemblies discussing a border poll.
Alliance voted against an SDLP motion this week during a committee meeting at Belfast City Council, which is currently Northern Ireland’s largest functioning democratic body while the NI Executive remains out of action.
At the council ’s Climate and City Resilience Committee on Thursday evening, SDLP Councillor Séamas de Faoite proposed to “write again to the Taoiseach’s office regarding the establishment of a New Ireland Forum for the 21st Century, alongside a series of comprehensive Citizens’ Assemblies, to examine the practical, social and economic aspects of a New Ireland.”
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The proposal was passed with ten votes in support - six votes from Sinn Féin, two from the SDLP, one from People Before Profit and one from the Green Party - to seven votes against, five from the DUP, and two from Alliance. No Alliance representatives or unionists spoke to the proposal.
The proposal will have to be ratified by the full council next month, where it faces a tougher hurdle. Out of 60 elected representatives, the combined force of Alliance and the unionist parties vote amounts to 29. A combined vote from Sinn Féin, the SDLP, Greens, and People Before Profit - a total of 31 elected members - is not guaranteed, and the vote’s outcome may well be decided by attendance.
Councillor de Faoite tweeted after the committee: "Last night in Belfast Alliance councillors voted against continuing this conversation through citizens assemblies. Our proposal passed without them. I’m glad to see Stephen Farry engaging but why are the rest of Alliance not setting out their terms for the future of our island?"
Alliance last month declined an invitation to take part in Ireland's Future's “Together We Can” event, saying it was "not an appropriate event for us to participate in". The party later described the gathering in Dublin’s 3Arena as a “rally to endorse a united Ireland.”
The party was the only non-unionist party in Ireland not to be represented at the meeting. SDLP MLA Justin McNulty accused the party of “not being honest with people” and added they were “constitutional cowards without the courage of their convictions.”
A statement from Alliance said the party “has and continues to engage in discussions around the future of these islands on a non-prejudicial basis, including a recent panel event for Ireland’s Future and through the Seanad Éireann consultation on the constitutional future of the island of Ireland.”
The website citizensassembly.co.uk describes citizens' assemblies as a "representative group of citizens who are selected at random from the population to learn about, deliberate upon, and make recommendations in relation to a particular issue or set of issues."
Citizen assembly recommendations in the Republic of Ireland led to the recognition of same sex marriage in 2015 and repealing the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution which legislated against abortion.
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