Direct Democracy Ireland (DDI) was formed in June 2010, but the concept of direct democracy is not new in Ireland. The people of Ireland previously did have Direct Democratic powers in the Constitution of the Irish Free State (1922). In this Constitution, Articles 47 & 48 gave the sovereign people of Ireland the power to initiate referendum. In the same document, Article 50 gave the Oireachtas the power to amend the constitution if the newly amended constitution is put up for a referendum vote within 2 years. In 1928 the Irish Democracy was severely weakened when the presiding Oireachtas amended the constitution by removing Articles 47 & 48. This one act ended the people’s right to initiate referendum as a way to have a final say in the political decision making process.

The goal of Direct Democracy Ireland organisation is to create a political party that will field candidates, in all constituencies, in the next General Election. The aim of Direct Democracy Ireland is to introduce a system of direct democracy in Ireland, which will entail, at a minimum, the right of the people to:

1. Initiative – Any citizen can collect a certain number of signatures, (a certain % of the population), to call a referendum.

2. Referendum – The referendum will empower the people to negate Ministerial decisions, or Government legislation, such as NAMA.

3. Recall – A mechanism will also be introduced whereby politicians can be ‘fired’ if they are not performing their job to the satisfaction of the electorate.

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