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	Participatory Democracy in Action - a Pilot We the Citizens December 18, 2011 http://www.wethecitizens.ie/pdfs/We-the-Citizens-2011-FINAL.pdf [pdf] Foreword from the Chairperson We the Citizens set out with optimism, and indeed hope, to test the value to our democracy of including citizens more directly in decision-making. That hope has been truly vindicated. We now have unequivocal proof that citizens' assemblies will work in this country, as they have in many others. We have shown that when you give people objective information and the opportunity to deliberate, not only do they make informed decisions, they also feel a greater connection to the democratic process. Ireland has changed and people are looking for new ways to engage in the civic and democratic life of their communities and their country. That was the message we heard as we travelled through Ireland this summer of 2011. What we found was that a great deal of common sense is generated when people get together to work things out. People came together at our events, not because of vested interests or political persuasions, but as individual citizens willing and ready to contribute to the future of our country. People were rightly angry about the economic and social crisis they did not create. But signi!cantly, they were ready to step up and become part of the solution. We are grateful to every man and woman who engaged with We the Citizens at our events around the country, at our pilot Citizens' Assembly in Dublin and online through our website and social media. We owe it to them and to all citizens to ensure that the Government and other political parties see the value of this form of participatory democracy. After all, this model would support politics at both national and local level.
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