For several years the cynical anecdote has been that, when the Irish electorate voted the ‘wrong’ way in a Referendum, the EU merely asked its Government to hold another one in the hope of getting a different result. From this, people joke that reluctant citizens can be repeatedly ‘consulted’ until they provide the answer preferred by the authorities.

Of course this is a travesty. And yet we have a range of circumstances where a consultation takes place, but for one reason or another, it becomes necessary to repeat the exercise. Here are three real scenarios – happening today:

• A County Council conducts a consultation on its plans to make changes to Libraries, but is challenged in the High Court. It loses the case and has to consider whether to repeat the exercise.