The Tenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1987 (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 Pla ...

no. 8 of 1987) is an

amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. The ...

to the

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 ...

that permitted the state to ratify the

Single European Act The Single European Act (SEA) was the first major revision of the 1957 Treaty of Rome. The Act set the European Community an objective of establishing a single market by 31 December 1992, and a forerunner of the European Union's Common Fore ...

. It was approved by

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

on 26 May 1987 and signed into law on 22 June of the same year.

Background

The Single European Act (SEA) was signed in February 1986 by the

member states A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation. Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign s ...

of the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lis ...

. It amended the

Treaty of Rome The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community), brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was sig ...

and established the European Single Market. The European Communities (Amendment) Act 1986 was passed to allow provisions of the SEA to become part of domestic Irish law. On 22 December 1986,

Raymond Crotty Raymond Dominick Crotty (22 January 1925 – 1 January 1994) was an Irish economist, writer, academic and farmer, who was known for his opposition to Ireland's membership of the European Union. In 1987, he mounted a successful legal challenge in ...

sought an injunction preventing Minister for Foreign Affairs Peter Barry from ratifying the Treaty on behalf of the state. He was refused relief by Donal Barrington in the High Court but was successful in part in the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. In a majority judgment delivered in ''

Crotty v. An Taoiseach ''Crotty v. An Taoiseach''987IESC 4, 987IR 713, 987ILRM 400, 9872 CMLR 666, (1987) 93 ILR 480. was a landmark 1987 decision of the Irish Supreme Court which found that Ireland could not ratify the Single European Act unless the Irish Constitut ...

'', the Court held that Title III of the SEA would bind the State to concede part of its sovereignty in a manner not permitted by the Constitution under the amendment made in 1972 to allow accession to the European Communities. In response, the newly elected government of

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the of ...

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...

proposed an amendment to the constitution.

Changes to the text

Amendment to Article 29.4.3º by the addition of the text in bold (emphasis added):

Oireachtas debates

The Tenth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1987 was proposed in the Dáil by Taoiseach Charles Haughey on 22 April 1987 on behalf of the minority Fianna Fáil government. It was also supported by

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil É ...

, who had negotiated the SEA during the previous government. At Second Stage, it passed by 108 votes to 29, where was opposed by the

Progressive Democrats The Progressive Democrats ( ga, An Páirtí Daonlathach, literally "The Democratic Party" ), commonly referred to as the PDs, was a conservative-liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Ma ...

, the Labour Party, the Workers' Party, and

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

TDs Neil Blaney and Tony Gregory. It passed Final Stages in the Dáil on 24 April by 123 votes to 17, on this occasion with the Progressive Democrats supporting its passage. It passed the Seanad on 25 April and proceeded to a referendum.

Campaign

As well as the parties above, the SEA was also supported by employers' and farmers' organisations.

Result

Aftermath

The Single European Act came into effect on 1 July 1987 after Ireland had ratified it. Because of the decision of the Supreme Court in ''Crotty'', the constitution needed to be amended on every further occasion before a treaty could be ratified that would transfer sovereignty from the Irish government to a supranational authority. This has occurred on the following occasions: *

Maastricht Treaty The Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, is the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU). Concluded in 1992 between the then-twelve member states of the European Communities, it announced "a new stage in the ...

Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland The Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution Act 1992 (previously bill no. 12 of 1992) is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland permitted the state to ratify the Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty. It was app ...

approved by referendum in 1992 *

Amsterdam Treaty The Treaty of Amsterdam, officially the Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts, was signed on 2 October 1997, and entered into force on 1 May 1999; i ...

** Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland approved by referendum in 1998 *

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998Michael P. Scharf (August 1998)''Results of the R ...

** Twenty-third Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland approved by referendum in 2001 *

Nice Treaty The Treaty of Nice was signed by European leaders on 26 February 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003. It amended the Maastricht Treaty (or the Treaty on European Union) and the Treaty of Rome (or the Treaty establishing the European ...

** Twenty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2001 rejected by referendum in 2001 ** Twenty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland approved by referendum in 2002 *

Lisbon Treaty The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member sta ...

Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2008 The Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2008 ( bill no. 14 of 2008) was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of Ireland that was put to a referendum in 2008 (the first Lisbon referendum). The purpose of the proposed amendment ...

rejected by referendum in 2008 ** Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland approved by referendum in 2009 * European Fiscal Compact ** Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland approved by referendum in 2012

References

External links

European Communities (Amendment) Act 1986
{{Amendments of the Constitution of Ireland 1987 in international relations 1987 in Irish law 1987 in Irish politics 1987 referendums 10 Ireland Amendments of the Constitution Ireland and the European Union 10b Ireland, 10 May 1987 events in Europe Amendment, 10, 1987