constitution of the Irish Free State

constitution of the Irish Free State, drafted by the Provisional Government and ratified by the Dáil in December 1922. Initial hopes of producing a document acceptable to republican opponents of the Anglo‐Irish treaty vanished when the British government insisted on the inclusion of clauses relating to the oath of allegiance, the governor‐general, and appeal to the privy council. Article 2 of the Constitution Act declared void any article or amendment repugnant to the treaty.

Under the constitution, government and authority were derived from the people. The Oireachtas (legislature) consisted of the king (represented by the governor‐general), the Dáil, and the Senate. Voting was by proportional representation. Executive authority was vested in the king but exercisable by an executive council, headed by a president, which was nominated by and responsible to the Dáil.

The constitution contained some novel features: the appointment of external ministers from outside the Oireachtas (although this was never implemented); powers of popular initiative and referendum; the qualified dissolution of the Dáil; the vesting in the whole executive council of control over dissolutions of parliament; and the amendment of the constitution by ordinary legislation. This last provision was much criticized because of the implications for citizens' rights at a time of draconian public safety legislation.

Extensive amendments to the constitution during 1922–36 included the abolition of popular initiative, referendum, and direct elections to the Senate in 1928, and the abolition of the Senate itself in 1936. By the time the constitution was superseded in 1937 (see constitution of ireland), 41 of its 83 articles had been amended.

Deirdre McMahon