NI Open Gov
The Northern Ireland Open Government Network is a loose alliance of individual citizens and representatives of voluntary/community organisations aiming to engage in dialogue with the NI Executive to campaign for a more open form of government. We want government to be more transparent, participatory and accountable to the people it serves.
We aim to use the international Open Government Partnership as a vehicle to achieve this objective and are making links with similar civil society networks in the UK and Ireland.
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…
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7th March 2018
The Northern Ireland Open Government Network welcome the intention to create transparency around donations, but are very disappointed that only donations from 1st July 2017 will be published. This goes against the agreement that all donations from January 2014 would be published. Although we welcome the opening of party political donations and see this as…
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5th March 2018
Ruchir Shah from the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations explores why we need to #reimaginedemocracy for 2018 On Thursday March 15th next week, a stramash of people frustrated with the way political decisions are made will descend on the Mac in Belfast. They will be binded by their concern for democracy, and the way in…
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28th February 2018
As lead co-chair of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), Georgia will host the 5th OGP Global Summit in Tbilisi, Georgia, on July 17-19, 2018. Representatives from more than 70 countries — heads of state and governments, ministers, public servants, members of parliament, local authorities, civil society representatives, international foundations, researchers, academia and journalists — will…
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26th February 2018
Written by Colm Burns There are many perceptions of our Executive and Assembly; one of them probably isn’t that they are transparent or accountable. Yet in 2016 our Executive signed up to four commitments to help them become more open: Commitment 1: Develop & trial effective open policy-making and public engagement methods Commitment 2: Promote…
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16th February 2018
The February 2018 issue of the NIOGN e-Bulletin can be viewed here…
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16th February 2018
Written by David McBurney The NI Open Government Network is collecting ideas to improve transparency, participation and accountability. We are looking for proposals that the Northern Ireland Executive should commit to in its 2018-2020 Open Government Action Plan. We would like to hear from citizens, community groups, civil society organisations, and anyone interested in greater transparency,…
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14th February 2018
Written by Jonathan Bell UN Sustainable Development Goal 16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. This Goal implies a link between strong and accountable Institutions and the realisation of sustainable…
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13th February 2018
Where: Crescent Arts Centre, 2-4 University Rd, Belfast When: 14th March 2018, 4:30pm – 6:30pm Ratified in a referendum in May 1998, the Good Friday Agreement brought an end to 30 years of sectarian conflict and set up a power-sharing assembly and executive to govern Northern Ireland by cross-community consent. The Agreement affirmed the legitimacy…
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2nd February 2018
Written by Colm Burns & David McBurney “We are the dupes of those who shape the content of our beliefs, who introduce us to each other as enemies and competitors, and who stand exalted on the shambles they create.” (Common Sense: Occupation, Assembly, and the Future of Liberty” by Dan Hind) The Street lights are…
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