The Twenty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2001 ( bill no. 19 of 2001) was a proposed amendment 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 ...

to allow the state to ratify the Treaty of Nice of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. The proposal was rejected in a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

held in June 2001, sometimes referred to as the first Nice referendum. The referendum was held on the same day as referendums on the prohibition of the death penalty and on the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, both of which were approved. The Nice Treaty was subsequently approved by Irish voters when the Twenty-sixth Amendment was approved in the second Nice referendum, held in 2002.

Background

The Treaty of Nice was signed by the member states of the European Union in February 2001, amending the

Treaties of the European Union The Treaties of the European Union are a set of international treaties between the European Union (EU) member states which sets out the EU's constitutional basis. They establish the various EU institutions together with their remit, procedures ...

. Under the decision of the Supreme Court in '' Crotty v. An Taoiseach'' (1987), an amendment to the Constitution was required before it could be ratified by Ireland. Ireland was the only one of the then 15 EU member states to put the Treaty to the people in a referendum.

Proposed changes to the text

Insertion of the following subsections in Article 29.4: Renumbering of subsections 7º and 8º of Article 29.4 as subsections 9º and 10º.

Oireachtas debate

The Twenty-fourth Amendment was proposed in Dáil Éireann by

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

Brian Cowen Brian Bernard Cowen (born 10 January 1960) is an Irish former politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2008 to 2011. Cowen was elected to Dáil Éireann in 1984, for the constituency of Laois–Offaly and served in a ...

on behalf of the

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

–

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 ...

coalition government led by

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 o ...

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...

. It was supported by opposition parties

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 � ...

and the Labour Party, while it was opposed by the Green Party,

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

and the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

, as well as

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 * Independ ...

Tony Gregory Tony Gregory (5 December 1947 – 2 January 2009) was an Irish independent politician, and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituency from 1982 to 2009. Early life Gregory was born in Ballybough on Dublin's Northside, the secon ...

. It passed final stages in the Dáil on 2 May, with insufficient opposition to force a roll call vote. It passed final stages in the Seanad on 4 May and proceeded to a referendum on 11 June 2001.

Campaign

Referendum Commission A Referendum Commission ( ga, An Coimisiún Reifrinn) is an independent statutory body in Ireland which is set up in advance of any referendum. The Referendum Act 1998 as amended by the Referendum Act 2001 provides for the establishment of the bod ...

was established by Minister for the Environment and Local Government

Noel Dempsey Noel Dempsey (born 6 January 1953) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Transport from 2007 to 2011, Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources from 2004 to 2007, Minister for Education and Scien ...

. It was chaired by former Chief Justice Thomas Finlay. At the time, its role included setting out the arguments for and against the proposal.

Result

Aftermath

The functions of the Referendum Commission were altered by the Referendum Act 2001, so that it would no longer set out arguments on either side of a proposal. A second referendum was held on the Nice Treaty in October 2002, and the voters approved of the Twenty-sixth Amendment. Because of concerns that the Treaty would affect Irish neutrality, a further subsection was included on that occasion to address these fears.

References

External links

Full text of the Constitution of IrelandOireachtas debates: Twenty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2001
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twenty-Fourth Amendment Of The Constitution Bill 2001 2001 in international relations 2001 in Irish law 2001 in Irish politics 2001 referendums Euroscepticism in Ireland 24 Ireland Amendments of the Constitution 24 Ireland, 24 June 2001 events in Europe Amendment, 24