president of Ireland

president of Ireland. Under articles 12–14 of the 1937 constitution, the president is the head of state, elected by popular vote for a seven‐year term. The president is also commander‐in‐chief of the armed forces, though this command is ‘regulated by law’. De Valera stated in 1937 that the president's function was ‘to guard the people's rights and mainly to guard the constitution’. Most of his or her powers and functions are exercised on the advice of the government and on the advice of the council of state, whose function is ‘to aid and counsel the President’ on matters defined by the constitution. There are other restrictions on the incumbent: he or she cannot leave the state without the government's permission; an address to the Oireachtas must be approved by the government; and the president can be impeached, although this process requires a two‐thirds majority of the Oireachtas.

The most important discretionary powers exercised on the president's own initiative are (1) to refuse ‘in his absolute discretion’ a dissolution to a taoiseach who has no Dáil majority; (2) to convene a meeting of the Oireachtas after consulting the council of state; and (3) to refer a bill to the Supreme Court for a decision on its constitutionality.

Deirdre McMahon