The Constitution of Dáil Éireann ( ga, Bunreacht Dála Éireann), more commonly known as the Dáil Constitution, was the constitution of the 1919–22

Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( ga, Poblacht na hÉireann or ) was an unrecognised revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by ...

. It was adopted by the First Dáil at its first meeting on 21 January 1919 and remained in operation until 6 December 1922. As adopted it consisted of five articles. Article 1 declared that the Dáil had "full powers to legislate" and would consist of representatives elected in elections conducted by the British government. For the exercise of executive power it created a cabinet, answerable to the Dáil, called the Ministry ( ga, Aireacht), headed by a prime minister called the "Príomh Aire" (in practice also known as the President of Dáil Éireann). The constitution was limited to an outline of the functions of the legislature and the executive; the Dáil later established a system of

Dáil Courts The Dáil Courts (also known as Republican Courts) were the judicial branch of government of the Irish Republic, which had unilaterally declared independence in 1919. They were formally established by a decree of the First Dáil on 29 June 192 ...

, but there was no provision in the constitution on a

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

. The final article of the constitution declared that it was intended to be a provisional document, in the sense that it was subject to amendment. As adopted the constitution came to only around 370 words. In comparison, the modern

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

has approximately 16,000 words. Overall, the structure of the document was as follows: *Article 1:

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 rea ...

*Article 2:

Ministry of Dáil Éireann Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

*Article 3: Chairman of the Dáil *Article 4: Finance *Article 5: Amendments

Amendments

*1 April 1919: Five amendments were made to the constitution on this day: **Allowed for the nomination of the members of the Ministry at the same meeting as the election of the President. **Allowed for the nomination in writing by the President of a President-Substitute in periods of temporary absences. **Allowed for the appointment of a Minister-Substitute in periods of temporary absences. **Increased the maximum number of ministers from four to "a President of the Ministry elected by Dáil Eireann, and not more than nine Executive Officers". **provided that twice yearly auditing of accounts would not begin until November 1919. *25 August 1921: The style of the head of the ministry was amended to "the President who shall also be Prime Minister", and reduced the cabinet to six members. The amendment also made further changes to the dates mentioned in Article 4. This made more explicit the idea that the head of the ministry was both

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...

and

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a ...

. Following the change to the Constitution in 1921,

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...

was proposed and elected as President of the Irish Republic, rather than President of Dáil Éireann.

Operation after the Treaty

After the

ratification Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent that lacked the authority to bind the principal legally. Ratification defines the international act in which a state indicates its consent to be bound to a treaty if the parties inten ...

of the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...

by the Dáil on 7 January 1922, de Valera left office in 1922. Those elected to the position of president were styled again as President of Dáil Éireann:

Arthur Griffith Arthur Joseph Griffith ( ga, Art Seosamh Ó Gríobhtha; 31 March 1871 – 12 August 1922) was an Irish writer, newspaper editor and politician who founded the political party Sinn Féin. He led the Irish delegation at the negotiations that pro ...

on 10 January 1922 and W. T. Cosgrave on 9 September 1922. In order to implement the Treaty the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

adopted the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922. This provided for an executive, called the

Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or ...

, and a "house of parliament" to which it would be accountable. The institutions established by the Dáil Constitution operated in parallel with these structures recognised by the British government. However, in practice the two systems of government were eventually merged. When the "house of parliament" was convened in 1922 on 9 September it was treated by those in attendance as the

Third Dáil The Third Dáil was elected at the general election held on 16 June 1922. This election was required to be held under the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed on 6 December 1921. It first met on 9 September and until 6 December 1922, it was the Provision ...

, and those appointed as president and Ministry of Dáil Éireann were the same cabinet serving as the Provisional Government. The Dáil Constitution finally became defunct when the new Constitution of the Irish Free State came into force on 6 December 1922.

Commentary

The constitution's close modelling of its institutional system on the Westminster system of government, specifically with the inclusion of a parliament from whom a ministry was both chosen and to whom it was answerable, has been noted by Irish political scientists and historians, notably Professor Brian Farrell, who suggested that the leaders of the new state stuck to a system that, through Irish participation in the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Grea ...

, the new Irish political elite had close experience of, and identification with, notwithstanding their radical republican rhetoric.

References

External links

*Full texts fro
Wikisource
** Original text in English ** Original text in Irish ** Text as amended in April 1919 ** Text as amended in August 1921 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dail Constitution Institutions of the Irish Republic (1919–1922)

Provisional constitutions Irish constitutional law Dáil Éireann 1919 in law 1919 documents Legal history of Ireland