I talk about the government system of the Republic of Ireland from executive to legislative and how elections work in the country.

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Post author By Charlie March 11, 2021
The Government System of the Republic of Ireland
theweeklyrambler.com/the-government-system-of-the-republic-of-ireland/
The Republic of Ireland is a nation
located on the island of Ireland in
north-western Europe and it is
bordered with the country of Northern
Ireland which is a part of the United
Kingdom, there have been numerous
civil political and sectarian tensions,
including violence and death, related to
NI, including involvement of military
forces of the UK government, with
those who wish Northern Ireland to
remain a part of the United Kingdom
under the British Monarchy
(loyalists/unionists) and those who
wish Northern Ireland to reunite with
the Republic of Ireland (Republicans).
These tensions can still flare up from
time to time.
The Republic of Ireland has coasts along the Atlantic Ocean, Celtic Sea, and the Irish Sea,
the Irish Sea is accessed through the North Channel between Northern Ireland and
Scotland or the St. George’s Channel between the Republic of Ireland and Wales, the
island of Great Britain is across the Irish sea, which includes England, Scotland, and
Wales all a part of the United Kingdom, also in the Irish sea is the Isle of Man which is a
self-governing British crown dependency. The Republic of Ireland’s capital city is Dublin
and it is found on the central-eastern coast along the Irish Sea.
The first evidence of human presence in Ireland possibly dates back to around 10,500-
8000 BC, the Bronze Age in Ireland begun with the emergence of Gaelic Ireland in the
2 Millenium BC and ended with the arrival of the Celtic La Tene peoples and culture.
Celtic Polytheism was eventually replaced by Christianity from the 4 Century AD
onwards. Viking raids and settlement took place from the late 8 Century AD onwards
and caused much cultural interchange, and innovations in military and transport, and
many towns were founded.
Viking penetration was mostly limited to the coasts and rivers and stopped being a threat
to Gaelic culture after the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. An Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland
took place in 1169 and led to partial conquest of the island and started more than eight
centuries of English political and military involvement in Ireland. The Gaelic resurgence
slowly rolled back the Norman gains although an area of Ireland known as The Pale
remained under direct English rule.
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After this the English Crown would not attempt to conquer Ireland until after the end of
the Wars of the Roses in 1488. After this resources and manpower were opened up for
expansionism from the 16 Century onwards, but Ireland proved difficult to conquer due
to various factors such as its decentralized political organisation, martial traditions, hard
terrain and climate, and lack of urban infrastructure. Attempts for the English Crown to
assert its authority became slow and costly.
The English also attempted to impose Protestantism on the Catholic Irish population,
which was strongly resisted by both Gaelic and Norman Irish peoples, these periods
included various abuses by the English Crown against such peoples. Such policy led to
rebellion by Silken Thomas Earl of Kildare in 1534 and beginning of Tudor conquest of
Ireland that lasted until 1603. In 1541 Henry VIII declared himself King of Ireland during
this time.
The Tudor conquest encountered numerous rebellions such as the 1 and 2 Desmond
Rebellions, and the Nine Years War. Crown policy included surrender and regrant which
attempted to assimilate Gaelic clans into the English polity followed by Plantation
where thousands of English and Scottish Protestant settlers came to Ireland to displace
the Irish Normans (or Old English) and native Catholics (many of these settlers settled in
Northern Ireland). The conquest ended in victory with the defeat of Gaelic Ireland after
the Battle of Kinsale in 1601, leading to the collapse of their cultural system and Ireland
coming under the British Empire.
During the 17 Century conflict between Protestant landholding minority and
dispossessed Catholic majority became common place. During such religious wars Ireland
would eventually become dominated by the Protestant Ascendancy following the Irish
Confederate Wars and the Williamite War. Catholics and dissenting Protestants suffered
under this domination from severe political and economic privatizations.
After a major uprising against British rule called the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the Irish
Parliament was abolished and the Acts of Union 1800 made Ireland a part of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain (making it the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland).
Catholics did not receive full rights until 1829 under the Catholic Emancipation which
was achieved by Daniel O’ Connell. The Great Famine struck Ireland in 1845 with mass
disease and starvation with the proximate cause being a potato blight, during this period
Ireland’s population dropped by 20-25% and many refugees fled the country, largely to
America.
Attempts for Irish independence continued meanwhile, with Charles Steward Parnell’s
Irish Parliamentary Party advocating for Home Rule from the 1880s onwards, this was
achieved via the Home Rule Act 1914 but unfortunately it was suspended due to the
outbreak of the 1 World War.
During the World War Irish Republican’s attempted to take advantage in 1916 by
launching an armed insurrection against British Rule known as the Easter Rising,
although it was suppressed by the British it served to turn public tide against the British
due to execution of leaders by British authorities. Ultimately the Irish War of
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Independence, or the Anglo-Irish War, begun from 1919 and successfully led to Ireland
seceding from the United Kingdom and establishing the Irish Free State in 1922, although
the Anglo-Irish Treaty partitioned Ireland, keeping six northeastern counties (Northern
Ireland) under British rule, which remains to this day, this is due to its population being
more favourable to British rule (due to resettlement plantation policies).
The partition of Ireland was opposed by many and led to the outbreak of the Irish Civil
War in where the provisional Irish government of the Irish Free State who supported the
treaty defeated the Anti-treaty IRA forces who saw the partition of Ireland as a betrayal,
the provisional government had backing and military support from the British. The Irish
Free State was a British Dominion until it adopted its constitution in 1937 and then the
Republic of Ireland Act 1948 made the Irish Free State into the Republic of Ireland in
1949, officially cementing its full independence.
Despite the victory of the then Irish Free State in the Irish Civil War, tensions between
mostly Catholic Irish nationalists (who wanted all of Ireland united) and mostly
Protestant Irish Unionists/loyalists (who supported the treaty and partition) persisted in
Northern Ireland, these divisions eventually led to a period of violent unrest, atrocities
and terrorist activities both in Ireland and Great Britain from all sides (including abuses
by British authorities/military forces) this time was known as The Troubles in Northern
Ireland from the late 1960s all the way until the late 1990s where the signing of the Good
Friday Agreement led to calming of tensions, although such tensions still flare up from
time to time, such as mild unrest, politically motivated violence and murders, and
terrorist activities, although nowhere near to the levels seen during The Troubles.
BREXIT has served to stoke new political tensions over Northern Ireland and a possible
step further towards the reunification of Ireland, Northern Ireland had narrowly voted to
remain within the EU, and loyalists/unionists disagree with the Northern Ireland Protocol
(a part of the BREXIT Deal) which places a customs barrier down the Irish Sea, many see
it as threatening to the Good Friday Agreement.
The Republic of Ireland is a member of the European Union and a founding member of
the Council of Europe and the OECD. The largest religion is Christianity (Roman
Catholic), the country’s official currency is the Euro which it officially adopted in 2002
(although it had been in circulation since 1999) which replaced the Punt or Irish Pound.
The country’s official languages are Irish (1 ) and English (2 ) and the population is over
4,968,740.
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Republic of Ireland’s Coat of Arms.
The Republic of Ireland is a parliamentary representative democratic republic where the
mostly ceremonial President is Head of State and the Taoiseach (proportionate to position
of Prime Minister) is Head of Government. The Irish legislature, called the Oireachtas
Eireann in full is a bicameral parliament made up of the Seanad which is the upper house
and the Dail, which is the lower but primary house. Multiple parties are allowed.
The Executive Government

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Seat of Government. Photo by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). CC BY-SA 4.0. Source.
There is a President who is Head of State, the position is mostly ceremonial but does have
some powers of significance. The President cannot leave the State during his term in
office without consent of the Government.
Presidential Absence and Vacancy
During absence or temporary incapacity, or officially established permanent incapacity,
death, resignation, removal from office, or failure to exercise or perform powers and
functions of their office, or if the presidency becomes vacant then the powers of the
President are exercised and performed by a specially constituted Commission until the
President returns or until a new President is elected.
Such a Commission includes the Chief Justice, Chairman of the Dail (lower House), and
Chairman of the Seanad (upper House).
Within the Commission the President of the Court of Appeals can substitute for the Chief
Justice on vacancy or absence, and the respective deputies of the Chairmen can substitute
for them in the Commission on their absence or vacancy.
The Commission can act by any two of their members and may act notwithstanding
vacancy in their membership.
Presidential Powers and Duties
After parliamentary elections the Dail (lower house) will nominate a member (usually a
majority party or coalition leader) to become Taoiseach who will then be appointed by the
President.

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The President summons and dissolves the Dail (lower house) on advice of the Taoiseach.
The President at their absolute discretion can refuse to dissolve the Dail if the Taoiseach
does not have majority support from the House.
After consultation with the Council of State (council that advises the President), the
President can summon either or both Houses of the Irish Legislature for an extraordinary
session on a matter of great import.
The President promulgates the legislation passed by the Irish Legislature. The President
can send the bill to the Supreme Court to decide whether it is repugnant to the
constitution or not. A majority of the Seanad and at least one-third of the Dail can address
a joint petition to the President asking him not to sign a bill into law and consider a
national referendum or to be ascertained by the will of the people for its adoption if the
bill is considered to be of such national importance, the President will make a decision on
this within 10-days of the petition and also after consulting with the Council of State.
If the above is granted by the President then either a national referendum will be held on
the bill or the Dail will be dissolved for fresh elections and once formed will vote on the
bill again.
The President is the Supreme Commander of the country’s Defense Forces which is
regulated by law. All commissioned officers of the Defense Forces hold
their commission from the President.
The President has the right of pardon and power to commute or remit punishment
imposed by any court in the country exercising criminal jurisdiction. Such power of
commutation or remission may also be conferred by law on other authorities.
After consultation with the Council of State the President may communicate with the Irish
Legislature by message or address on any matter of national or public importance. Also,
after consultation with the Council of State the President may address a message to the
Nation at any such time and on any such matter. Any such message or address requires
Government approval.
The President appoints the Judges of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court,
and other Courts. The process of appointment is determined and regulated by law. As it
stands Judges are nominated by the Taoiseach and Cabinet and then appointed by the
President. The Chief Justice is the President of the Supreme Court by default and as such
is nominated and appointed the same as Judges.
Council of State
The Council of State exists to aid and counsel the President on all matters which the
President may consult the Council related to exercise and performance of powers and
functions.
Ex-officio members of the Council of State include the Taoiseach, the Tanaiste, the Chief
Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal, the President of the High Court, the
Chairman of the Dail, the Chairman of the Seanad, and the Attorney-General.

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Other members include every person able annd willing to act as a member of the Council
of State who shall have held the office of President, Taoiseach, or Chief Justice, or the
office of President of the Executive Council of Saorstat Eireann (Irish Free State).
The President can also appoint up to seven other members at their discretion who will
serve until the President leaves office (or until they resign, die, replaced by the
President etc).
Taoiseach and Government
The Taoiseach is the Head of Government in the Republic of Ireland equivalent to the
position of Prime Minister and is stated as the position of Prime Minister in the
constitution as well. The Taoiseach is nominated by the members of the Dail (lower house
of Parliament) after elections, usually from largest party or coalition, they are then
appointed by the President.
The Taoiseach nominates a member of Government to be their deputy (Tanaiste) usually
a significant member of their party or if a coalition the leader of the second largest party
or grouping in that coalition. The deputy will take over from the Taoiseach if they die or
become permanently incapacitated until a new one is appointed or they will take over
during temporary absence or incapacity until the Taoiseach returns.
The Taoiseach nominates members of Government who are approved by the Dail (lower
house) and then appointed by the President. On advice of the Taoiseach the President
accepts the resignation or terminates a member of Government. There can be no less than
seven members of Government and no more than fifteen.
Members of Government and the Taoiseach collectively make up the Government
Cabinet, the collective administrative and decision-making body of Government.
The Taoiseach, Tanaiste, and member of Government in charge of the Department of
Finance must be from the Dail, other members of Government can be from Dail or Seanad
(upper house) but no more than two members can be from the Seanad.
Members of Government have the right to attend sessions of both Houses of Parliament
and to be heard.
The Taoiseach and his/her Government are responsible to the Dail (lower house of
parliament) and must keep their confidence to remain in power. The Government is
collectively responsible for the Departments of State administered by members of
Government.
If the Taoiseach loses confidence, then they must resign or they can ask the President to
dissolve the Dail for early elections and if the Taoiseach manages to secure a new majority
in the next Dail then they can remain in power.
It is the duty of the Taoiseach to keep the President generally informed on matters of
domestic and international policy.

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The Government is in charge of preparing the Estimates of receipts and Estimates of
expenditure (annual Budget) to the Dail for its consideration.
The Government is in charge of international relations and foreign affairs. Every
international agreement must be laid before the Dail. The State cannot be bound by any
international agreement involving charge on public funds unless terms of agreement have
been approved by the Dail.
There is an Attorney-General who is the Government’s legal adviser, they are not a
member of Government but is appointed by the President on recommendation of the
Taoiseach.
Presidential Removal
The President can be impeached for stated misbehavior. A charge against the President
can be proffered by either House of the Irish Legislature and such a motion must be
signed by at least 30-members of that House. When a charge is put forward and adopted
by at least a two-thirds majority the other House will be in-charge of investigating the
charge against the President, the President has the right to appear and be represented at
these investigations.
After the investigation the House that investigated will vote whether to remove the
President from office, such a vote to remove the President requires a two-thirds majority.
Emergency Provisions
The Government can deem a piece of legislation as urgent and immediately necessary for
preservation of public peace and security, or by existence of public emergency, domestic
or international, the time for consideration of a bill by the Seanad can be abridged as
specified by resolution passed by the Dail.
In this case a bill rejected by the Seanad or passed by Seanad but with amendments the
Dail disagree with or bill neither passed nor rejected by Seanad. Or in case of Money bills
returned by Seanad with recommendation that Dail disagrees with or if not returned by
the Seanad at all…
Shall be deemed to have been passed by both Houses within period specified in resolution
and will remain in force for 90-days and can be extended further by agreed resolutions of
both Houses.
The Legislative Government
The Irish Legislature, called the Oireachtas Eireann, is a bicameral parliament made up of
the upper house called the Seanad Eireann (the Senate), and the lower but primary house
called the Dail Eireann (House of Representatives). The Dail is considered primary as it
determines the appointment of the Taoiseach (Head of Government) after that House has
been elected, and it determines thereafter the confidence within the Taoiseach and as
such can lead to his/her removal and replacement. The Dail also provides the main
oversight of actions and activities of the executive government.

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Meeting place of Irish Parliament. Photo by Jean Housen
from Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source.
Both Houses have powers to
introduce legislation, debate it,
introduce and adopt amendments,
resolutions, and pass legislation,
legislation passed from the house it
was introduced in will then be
introduced to the other house for
consideration, then if passed by
that house it will go on to the
President to be promulgated.
Both Houses elect a Chairman and
their deputies and prescribe their
powers and duties, which involve
keeping order within the houses
and enforcement of internal rules and decision making on parliamentary agenda within
the sessions of the Houses. The Chairman or a presiding member cannot vote within
sessions, but does hold a casting vote if there are ties.
Other Powers and limitations
Either House can impeach the President on a charge adopted via a two-thirds majority
and cause the other House to investigate or set-up an investigation into the charge and
then decide removal of the President via two-thirds majority.
The Irish Legislation can provide for the establishment and recognition of functional or
vocational councils that represent branches of the social and economic life of the people.
Such laws determine rights, powers and duties, and relation to the Irish Legislature and
Government.
The constitution prevents the Irish legislature from enacting a law that
provide imposition of a death penalty.
Right to raise and maintain military and armed forces is vested exclusively in the Irish
Legislature.
War cannot be declared without consent of the Dail.
Both Houses can introduce resolutions for removal of Judges from office for
stated misbehavior, such is notified to the President by the Taoiseach, the President will
remove them from office.
Dail Eireann (Lower Primary House)
The Lower house currently has 160 members which can be fixed by law, but total number
of members cannot be fixed at less than one member per 30k population, or more than
one member per 20k population and no constituencies can have less than three elected
members. Number of members within each constituency is made as equally balanced as
possible for fair representation for each constituency.

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The lower house considers the Estimates of receipts and Estimates of expenditure as soon
as possible when presented. The Financial Resolutions (yearly budget) are considered and
enacted by this House. The House cannot pass any vote or resolution, or enact a law, for
appropriation of revenue or other public money unless purpose of appropriation has been
recommended to the House by message from the Government signed by the Taoiseach.
This House has the job of nominating the Comptroller and Auditor-General who are
appointed by the President.
Seanad Eireann (Upper House)
The Upper house currently has a fixed 60 members, their mode of election is
rather convoluted and explained under the electoral section below.
The purpose of this house is basically to provide oversight on legislation passed by the
Dail, just as the Dail can do on legislation introduced and passed by this house, but the
Seanad can be more easily bypassed by the Dail. The Seanad cannot introduce money bills
and cannot amend money bills passed by the Dail, they can only provide
recommendations on such. The Seanad can amend bills passed by the Dail, just as the
Dail can do for bills passed by the Seanad, in such cases they are sent back to the
respective houses for reconsideration.
If Money bills are not returned to the Dail within 21-days they are considered
automatically passed. The Seanad does have the power to pass a resolution challenging
whether a Money bill passed on to it is actually constitutionally a Money bill.
In such a case the President, after consultation with the Council of State, may decide to
accede to the request and appoint a Committee of Privileges to make a decision on
whether the bill is a Money bill or not. This Committee consists of an equal number of
members from both Houses and a Chairman who is a Judge of the Supreme Court. Such
appointments are made at the consultation of the Council of State. The Chairman has a
casting vote if there is a tie. The decision by the Committee on whether the bill is a money
bill or not is final.
Alternatively, the President may decide not to accede to the resolution of the Seanad and
no Committee will be appointed, and as such the bill will still be considered a Money bill.
On bills that are rejected by the Seanad or are given amendments that the Dail disagree
with or bills that are left with no action in the Seanad within set period (90 days by
default), then the Dail can resolve within 180 days after expiration of stated period be
deemed to have been passed by both Houses (effectively overruled the Seanad).
The above also applies to bills which were initiated in and passed by the Seanad but that
were amended by the Dail, which then under the Constitution deems the bill as having
been initiated in the Dail.
The Electoral System

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Image by AxG from Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source.
Presidential Elections take place every 7-years and the President is directly elected by the
people using a system of proportional representation via the single transferable vote,
where a candidate who is knocked out of the race during the counting process (due to not
reaching set thresholds to remain in the race) will have the votes put towards them
transferred to another candidate still in the race based on personal preferences of the
voters, this goes on until a single winner is left with the most votes meeting the required
thresholds and will thus win the election.
One person can hold office for the maximum of two terms (14-years). Eligible candidates
must be at least 35-years old. Candidates must be nominated by at least 20-members of
the Irish legislature or by Councils of at least four administrative counties including

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county boroughs. No Council or person can nominate more than one candidate in the
same election. Former and retiring Presidents do not require nomination to run for a
2 term and can do it off their own accord.
The President cannot be a member of the Irish Legislature, a member of the Legislature
who is elected President must vacate their seat.
Elections for the Dail Eireann (lower house) take place every 5 years and elect members
from multi-seat constituencies using a proportional representation system via the single
transferable vote, which is already explained above. This system means power-sharing
coalitions are common.
Candidates for the Dail Eireann must be citizens who are at least 21-years-old and who
does not have a disqualifying disability or incapacity.
Elections for the Seanad Eireann (upper house) take place not more than 90-days
following the dissolution of the Dail Eireann (lower house). 11 of the 60 members are
nominated by the Taoiseach (after they have been appointed to their position by the
President), the Taoiseach must obtain prior consent from the nominees. The other
members are elected by Universities and constituted panels of candidates.
Three members are elected by the National University of Ireland, and another three
members are elected by the University of Dublin. The final 43 are elected by the
constituted panels.
Provision can be made by law for the election, by franchise and in manner provided by
law, by Universities mentioned above or any other institutions of higher education in the
State. Member or members may be elected via institutions grouped together or by a single
institution.
Members are elected via proportional representation using the single transferable vote
which is explained above.
For members elected from panels of candidates, give panels are formed in a manner
provided by law containing respectively names of persons having knowledge and practical
experience of interests and services.
The above includes National Language, Culture, Literature, Art, Education and such
professional interests as may be defined by law for this panel.
A panel for Agriculture and allied interests, and Fisheries.
A panel for Labour, organised or unorganised.
A panel for Industry and Commerce, including banking, finance, accountancy,
engineering, and architecture.
A panel for Public administration and social services, including voluntary social
activities.
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Each panel can elect no more than 11 members and no less than 5 members to the
Seanad.
Candidates for the Seanad Eireann must also be citizens who are at least 21-years-old and
who does not have a disqualifying disability or incapacity.
To vote in elections one must be a citizen of the Republic of Ireland who is at least 18-
years-old. Voting is not mandatory.
Sources
The sources for this post come from the Republic of Ireland’s 1937 constitution with
amendments through to 2019 and so should be as up to date as possible but there is
a chance, I missed things and misinterpreted things and of course the constitution can be
amended and this post may eventually become outdated and so it is recommended to
perform cross-research if using this in a serious capacity.
Amendments to the constitution are first initiated in the Dail (lower house) and require
majority approval in both Houses of Parliament, then adoption requires majority
approval in a national referendum and then promulgation by the President.
Next up will be the government system of Israel.
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