The Government of Ireland

Under the constitution of 1937, Ireland is a sovereign, independent, democratic state. It became a republic in 1949 when Commonwealth ties with GB were severed.

Executive power under the Irish constitution is vested in a Cabinet, which forms a gov-t of some 15 Ministers. The Gov-t is responsible to the lower house of the national legislature (The Dail).

The Taoiseach (‘tee-shuck’) (prime minister) serves as head of gov-t & is appointed by the President after nomination by the Dail. The Dail elects him as the leader of the political party, or coalition of parties that wins the most seats in the national elections (held every 5 years - unless called earlier).

Members of the gov-t head the administrative departments, or ministries. They are selected by the Taoiseach, approved by the Dail, & appointed by the President.

The President of Ireland is the head of state & is elected by direct popular vote for a 7-year term. His role is largely ceremonial and he can be re-elected only once. The President acts on the advice of the Government & performs a limited number of functions after consultation with an advisory Council of State. On the PM’s advice the president also dissolves the parliament. The current President is Michael Higgins who succeeded Mary McAleese on November 11, 2011.

Ireland has a bicameral legislature known as the Oireachtas. The lower house, or Dail Eireann, is directly elected by the public for a term of 5 years under proportional representation & now has 166 members. A member of the Dail is known as Tachta Dana (TD). The upper house, or Seanad Eireann, has 60 members, 11 appointed by the Taoiseach, 6 elected by the universities, & 43 chosen by an electoral college of some 900 representatives from local governments & the national legislature. The upper house is limited in authority (it has the power to delay legislative proposals and is allowed 90 days to consider and amend bills sent to it by the Dail), while the lower house has the power to support or bring down governments in the parliamentary tradition.

Judicial authority in Ireland is vested in the Supreme court, the High court, the Court of Criminal Appeal, the Central Criminal Court, circuit courts, & district courts. The Supreme Court is the court of final appeal & plays a key role in constitutionality determinations. Judges are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the gov-t & can be removed from office only for misbehavior or incapacity, and then only by resolution of both houses of the parliament. The Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice and 5 other judges. It is the ultimate court of appeal, and it can also decide upon the constitutionality of legislative acts.

Local government is elected by county councils.