May 2022
ICCL is the coordinator of the Coalition for Civil Society Freedom, a coalition of 5 organisations working for the benefit of everyone in Ireland. In the Coalition’s submission to the Oireachtas on the Electoral Reform Bill, we highlight the restrictive nature of Electoral law in Ireland, which essentially bans civil society organisations from seeking funding for their domestic advocacy work. Organisations are dissuaded from engaging in the public policy progress, and the Coalition raises serious concerns about the stifling of civil society in Ireland.
The purpose of the Coalition’s submission on the Electoral Reform Bill (2022) is to seek the removal of the existing definition of ‘political purposes’ from the 1997 Electoral Act (as amended) and its replacement with a definition that explicitly limits the fundraising and campaigning restrictions on ‘third parties’ (organisations that engage in work around public policy) to election and referendum periods.