The Constitution (Amendment No. 23) Act 1936 (act no. 17 of 1936, previously

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

no. 12 of 1934) was an Act of the

Oireachtas of the Irish Free State The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State ( ga, Oireachtas Shaorstát Éireann) was the legislature of the Irish Free State from 1922 until 1937. It was established by the 1922 Constitution of Ireland which was based from the Anglo-Irish Treaty. ...

amending the

Constitution of the Irish Free State The Constitution of the Irish Free State ( ga, Bunreacht Shaorstát Eireann) was adopted by Act of Dáil Éireann sitting as a constituent assembly on 25 October 1922. In accordance with Article 83 of the Constitution,university constituencies A university constituency is a constituency, used in elections to a legislature, that represents the members of one or more universities rather than residents of a geographical area. These may or may not involve plural voting, in which voters ar ...

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

Background

The

Dublin University The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

(

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

) had been a constituency in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...

from 1613 to 1800 and in the

United Kingdom House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

from 1801 to 1922. The

National University A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. Some national universities are associated with national cultural or po ...

was a constituency in the UK House of Commons from 1918 to 1922. The

Government of Ireland Act 1920 The Government of Ireland Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5 c. 67) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bill ...

gave both universities four seats each in the

Southern Ireland House of Commons The Parliament of Southern Ireland was a Home Rule legislature established by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It was designed to legislate for Southern Ireland,"Order in Counc ...

. Article 27 of the

Constitution of the Irish Free State The Constitution of the Irish Free State ( ga, Bunreacht Shaorstát Eireann) was adopted by Act of Dáil Éireann sitting as a constituent assembly on 25 October 1922. In accordance with Article 83 of the Constitution,Electoral Act 1923 The Electoral Act 1923 was a law in Ireland which established the electoral law of the Irish Free State and provided for parliamentary constituencies in Dáil Éireann. Franchise Article 14 of the Constitution of the Irish Free State adopted o ...

required voters eligible to vote in university constituencies to choose to register in that constituency or in a geographical constituency.

Change to the text

The Amendment deleted Article 27 in its entirety and deleted references to university constituencies in Articles 26 and 28. It came into effect on the dissolution of the Oireachtas next following the Act, which occurred on 14 June 1937. The change to the electoral law was made by the Electoral (University Constituencies) Act 1936, transferring all those on the register for university constituencies to the register for geographical constituencies.

Oireachtas debate

The Constitution (Amendment No. 23) Bill 1934 passed Second Stage in the Dáil on 8 May 1934 by 58 to 34, and passed Final Stage on 5 July 1934 by 51 to 29. On 18 July 1934, it was defeated at Second Stage in

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

by a vote of 15 to 30. On 6 February 1936, the Dáil passed a motion under Article 38A of the Constitution by a vote of 66 to 38 that the bill be sent again to the Seanad. On 26 February 1936, the Seanad passed an amendment to the bill, which would have delayed its effect until six months after the dissolution of the Oireachtas. On 23 April 1936, the Dáil passed a motion of enactment by 58 to 40 resolving that the bill be deemed to have passed both Houses. It was signed by the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

the following day.

Expiry

The Amendment became obsolete on the repeal of the 1922 Constitution on the

adoption of the Constitution of Ireland The current Constitution of Ireland came into effect on 29 December 1937, repealing and replacing the Constitution of the Irish Free State, having been approved in a national plebiscite on 1 July 1937 with the support of 56.5% of voters in the ...

in 1937, and was repealed by the

Statute Law Revision Act 2016 The Statute Law Revision Act 2016 is a Statute Law Revision Act enacted by the Oireachtas in Ireland to review Acts of the Oireachtas passed from 1922 to 1950. It also amended the Statute Law Revision Act 2007 to revive one Act that had been rep ...

. Both Dublin University and the National University were given three seats in new constituencies in

established under the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland ( ga, Bunreacht na hÉireann, ) is the constitution, fundamental law of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. The constitution, based on a system of representative democra ...

adopted on 29 December 1937, with the first elections in 1938.

References

{{Constitution of the Irish Free State 1936 in Irish law Acts of the Oireachtas of the 1930s Amendments to the Constitution of the Irish Free State University constituencies in the Republic of Ireland