26th February 2019
Written By Colm Burns I voted for the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) in May 1998 because I felt it was the right thing to do. I was 20 and not politically active, and hadn’t actually read the Agreement but I did grow up in North Belfast beside Girdwood Army Barracks. I remember the bombs and…
14th January 2019
Written by Colm Burns On the 9th January 2017 the Executive and Assembly collapsed. Whilst there are many reasons for the collapse, it doesn’t look like our political representatives will be back any time soon. Before the collapse we had more than a year of deadlock and failed attempts to resolve differences over issues such…
12th September 2018
Written by Colm Burns Having ‘no new ideas’ was the damning verdict from the political parties at Stormont after the latest round of talks with the Secretary of State. Following the meetings, Karen Bradley said she was “determined to deliver” devolved government. “Last week I set out the Government’s clear plan to bring that about…
22nd August 2018
Written by Peter Osborne Open government and transparency is not just a nifty phrase and something to be said because government is required to do it. Transparency is important; and it is valuable and empowering. Unfortunately recent events have meant there has been little debate about the reasons why government should welcome transparency. Instead the…
26th July 2018
Written by Colm Burns Colm at the OGP Summit in Tbilisi, Georgia – 19th July 2018 I was asked to speak at the Open Government Summit in Georgia on “How to Ensure the Capacity of Citizens to Engage with Government”. My original proposal was for an 1hr 30min session with inputs from citizens, government representatives…
26th June 2018
Written by Ben Worthy This month my mid-term IRM report on the UK’s Third National Action Plan was published, covering the UK’s progress up until the end of last year. So where is Northern Ireland in terms of its commitments? Northern Ireland began from a different point than the UK as a whole, and, though…
4th May 2018
On Thursday 26 April at the Institute for International and European Affairs, Denis Naughten, T.D., Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten TD, launched Ireland’s Sustainable Development Goals National Implementation Plan 2018 – 2020. Minister Naughten has lead responsibility for promoting and overseeing the coherent implementation of the SDGs on a whole-of-Government basis.…
12th April 2018
We crowdsourced ideas for OG commitments for the 2018-20 Open Government National Action Plan and presented them to government officials before Easter. Commitment ideas included: Introduce a register of lobbyists Open Ministerial diaries Ensure the open and timely publication of government research and introduce a standardised public register of all commissioned studies. Create a Citizens’…
9th April 2018
It’s time for us to call on you – our network of open government enthusiasts – to help steer the development and delivery of the NI Open Government Network. There are five places to be filled; and all you need to do is nominate yourself by Monday 30th April 2018. Whether you consider yourself an…
9th March 2018
Written by Colm Burns & David McBurney Conservative and DUP MPs trooped through the voting lobby of the House of Commons on Wednesday to prevent retrospective transparency on donations to political parties in Northern Ireland. With the Conservatives applying a three-line whip, the measure they were voting on – The Transparency of Donations & Loans…