The Irish Political System

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The Irish Political System

The former American president Thomas Jefferson remarked, "I know of no safer repository of the ultimate powers of society, than the people themselves".(www.peoplefirstindia.org) This holds true for Irish society also. The key to good governance is to design a system that ensures that the public, not their elected servants, are truly the holders of the definitive power of the people. This is done by a referendum. A referendum is a system of legislation involving the referral of proposed laws or constitutional amendments to the electorate for final approval.(www.lectlaw.com) The use of the referendum to decide major national issues is supported by the vast majority of the Irish people. It is viewed as a highly democratic method of decision-making and as an excellent tool for providing an essential check on politicians. So overall, the Irish experience of referendums would be considered a positive one.

The policies of the state of the Republic of Ireland towards amending the Constitution and referendums are outlined in articles 46 and 47 of Bunreacht na hEireann respectively. These articles refer to the fact that, any provision of the Constitution may be amended by referendum (article 46.2). In Ireland, our Constitution provides that there are no unamendable provisions, this is unlike our European neighbours of France and Germany (Butler & Ranney 94:80) and it displays a surprisingly liberal attitude for its time.

There are two types of referendum, a referendum to amend the Constitution and a referendum on a proposal other than one to amend the Constitution, called an ordinary referendum. The latter, has never occurred in the Irish case as of yet and is unlikely to, considering it would necessitate a majority of the Seanad opposing the government.

The Irish Constitution can only be changed by a referendum. Under Article 46 of the Constitution, an application to amend the Constitution must be introduced in the Dáil as a Bill. When the Bill has been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas,(the Dail and Seanad) it must be submitted to the people for their consent at a referendum. If a majority of the votes cast at the referendum are supportive of the proposal, the Bill is signed by the President and the Constitution is amended as a result. (www.environ.ie)

The ordinary referendum is discussed in Articles 27 and 47 of the Constitution, which also provides for a referendum on a proposal other than one to amend the Constitution. An ordinary referendum may take place when the President, on receipt of a joint petition from a majority of the members of the Seanad and not less than one third of the members of the Dáil, and following discussion with the Council of State, comes to a decision that a Bill includes a proposal of such national significance that the desire of the people ought to be determined before the measure becomes regulation.(www.environ.ie)

The main issues which have been the subject of national referendums in the Republic of Ireland, have related to voting rights, the European Union and issues of a moral nature.

The importance of referendums in Irish political life should not be underestimated. It is the only means to legally alter the 1937 constitution that underpins all legislation, and since 1937, a total of twenty-five referendums to amend the Constitution have been held. Seven of which have been rejected. The issues involved have often related to major social issues, including the unique position of the Roman Catholic Church, divorce, and abortion. All of these difficult issues have been put before the people.
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Abortion had gone to referendum in 1983 and its legalisation was rejected by a handsome majority of 66.9% at that time. It proved to be an extremely troublesome referendum and its ramifications were many. It came to the fore once more as a result of the infamous X case in 1992. Although this case did not go to the people for a final decision, referendums have arisen from its revelations. This case involved the pregnancy of a thirteen year-old girl as a result of rape, she wished to be granted permission to travel to the UK to terminate ...

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