By Sean Kelly from NICVA
Published on 22 Feb 2008
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has revealed that while the Executive agreed the terms of reference and methodology for a review of the Civic Forum in October 2007 a timetable for the completion of the review process is not yet available.
In response to questions on the status of the review of the Civic Forum during Question Time at the Northern Ireland Assembly (18 February 2008), Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness revealed that although considerable preparatory work has been undertaken since October 2007, this work has yet to be completed before the review can begin. Deputy First Minister McGuinness added,
"We hope to move into the next phase of the review process over the next few weeks. It is not possible to be definite about the timetable, but the review will be progressed as quickly as possible commensurate with doing a thorough job."
In relation to the costs associated with the resurrection of the Civic Forum, Deputy First Minister McGuinness replied that as the review was on-going it would be wrong to prejudge or make any commitments on a ‘work in progress’.
The Deputy First Minister also noted that while NICVA strongly supports the Civic Forum it had some concerns around the structure and operation of the original Forum particularly in relation to its chairing and accountability arrangements and that a review should address these issues, rather than reconvene the Forum in its original form.
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness concluded,
"It is in response to NICVA’s concerns, among other things, that we have commissioned the current review of the Civic Forum. As part of its remit, the review will assess the effectiveness and appropriateness, or otherwise, of the original forum.
"However, the main purpose of the review is to learn from the experiences of the first forum to arrive at improved arrangements for consulting civil society."
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