The Coat of Arms of the Republic of Ireland This image depicts a seal, an emblem, a coat of arms or a crest. It may be ineligible for copyright or in the public domain. In other cases, it is believed that these images may be exhibited on Wikipedia under the... This article is part of the series The Republic of Ireland is a sovereign, independent state. It is a representative democracy under a parliamentary system of government, with a president, prime minister and parliament. The capital city is Dublin. While there are a number of important political parties in the state, the two largest are Fianna F... Politics of the R. of Ireland

The President of Ireland (Irish: Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of the Republic of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people, and serves a maximum of two seven-year terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise... President The Council of State (Irish: Comhairle Stáit) is an organ established by the Constitution of Ireland to advise the President of Ireland in the exercise of many of her discretionary, reserve powers. The Council of State also has authority to provide for the temporary exercise of the duties of... Council of State

Oireachtas Dáil Éireann is the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament) of the Republic of Ireland1. It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote. Its powers are similar to those of lower... Dáil Éireann Seanad Éireann (English: Senate of Ireland), the Irish Senate, is the upper house of the Oireachtas: the parliament of the Republic of Ireland1. Unlike the lower house, Dáil Éireann, the Senate is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members chosen by various methods... Seanad Éireann

The Taoiseach (plural: Taoisigh) or, more formally, An Taoiseach, is the head of government of the Republic of Ireland and the leader of the Irish cabinet1. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of parliament), and must, while he or... Taoiseach Tánaiste The Government (Irish: Rialtas) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in the Republic of Ireland. The Government is headed by a prime minister called the Taoiseach, and a deputy prime minister called the Tánaiste. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President after being designated by Dáil Éireann... Government

The Supreme Court (Irish: Chúirt Uachtarach) is the highest judicial authority in the Republic of Ireland. The Supreme Court is the Court of Final Appeal and exercises judicial review, to ensure that other institutions of the state comply with the Constitution of Ireland. The Supreme Court consists of its... Supreme Court The courts system in the Republic of Ireland consists of the Supreme Court, the High Court and a number of lower courts. The Republic is a common law jurisdiction and trials for serious offences must usually occur before a jury. The High Court and the Supreme Court have authority, by... Judiciary

The Constitution of Ireland is the founding legal document of the state known today as the Republic of Ireland. The constitution falls broadly within the liberal democratic tradition. It establishes an independent state based on a system of representative democracy, and guarantees certain fundamental rights. The constitution was adopted in... Constitution An amendment may be made to any part of Bunreacht na hÉireann, the constitution of the Republic of Ireland, but only by referendum. An amendment must first be approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas (parliament), then submitted to a referendum, and finally signed into law by the President... Referendum

Political parties in the Republic of Ireland lists political parties in the Republic of Ireland. The general rule on naming applies. That means: the parties are named in the English translation and the original native name is placed on the first line of the article unless the native form is... Political parties Elections in the Republic of Ireland gives information on election and election results in the Republic of Ireland. An election is a process in which a vote is held to elect candidates to an office. It is the mechanism by which a democracy fills elective offices in the legislature, and... Elections: - The date for Irelands presidential election was set for 22 October 2004. However, nominations closed at noon on 1 October and the incumbent president, Mary McAleese, who had nominated herself in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, was the only person nominated. Accordingly she was re-elected for... Presidential, 2004 - The 28th Dáil was dissolved by President McAleese on Thursday April 25, 2002 and a General Election announced for Friday May 17, 2002. The 29th Dáil assembled on June 6, 2002. Results Overview The general election was significant for six major reasons: The re-election of the Fianna... Legislative, 2002

The Oireachtas is the "National Parliament" of the The Republic of Ireland ( Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann) is the official description of an independent state which covers approximately five-sixths of the island of Ireland, off the coast of north-west Europe. It is the westernmost state of the European Union, and has a developed economy and... Republic of Ireland¹. The Oireachtas consists of the The President of Ireland (Irish: Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of the Republic of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people, and serves a maximum of two seven-year terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise... President of Ireland and two houses: Dáil Éireann is the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament) of the Republic of Ireland1. It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote. Its powers are similar to those of lower... Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann (English: Senate of Ireland), the Irish Senate, is the upper house of the Oireachtas: the parliament of the Republic of Ireland1. Unlike the lower house, Dáil Éireann, the Senate is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members chosen by various methods... Seanad Éireann (also known as the Senate). However the directly elected Dáil is by far the its most powerful branch. The legislature is also sometimes known as Oireachtas Éireann. Both Houses of the Oireachtas currently reside in Leinster House is the former palace of the Duke of Leinster. Since 1922, it has been the seat of both houses of the Irish parliament. Leinster House is the former ducal palace in Dublin that has served since 1922 as the parliament building of the Irish Free State, Éire and... Leinster House in Dublins Hapenny Bridge. Beyond it, the dome of the 18th century Custom House and Liberty Hall, the citys tallest building. Dublin (Baile Átha Cliath in Irish) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located near the midpoint of Irelands east coast... Dublin.

Composition

Dáil Éireann, the lower house, is directly elected under universal adult suffrage, at least once in every five years. However the house can be dissolved at any time at the request of the The Taoiseach (plural: Taoisigh) or, more formally, An Taoiseach, is the head of government of the Republic of Ireland and the leader of the Irish cabinet1. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of parliament), and must, while he or... taoiseach (head of government). Elections occur under the system of Proportional Representation (PR) describes various multi-winner electoral systems which try to ensure that the proportional support gained by different groups is accurately reflected in the election result. Proportional representation is also used to describe this (intended) effect. In practice this usually involves ensuring that political parties in parliament or... proportional representation by means of the The Single Transferable Vote, or STV, is a preference voting system designed to minimise wasted votes in multi-candidate elections while ensuring that votes are explicitly for candidates rather than party lists. When promoted as a proportional representation method in multi-party multi-seat elections, it is generally known as... Single Transferable Vote. The Senate is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members selected in a number of ways, including indirect election and appointment by the taoiseach. The President of Ireland is directly elected once in every seven years, for a maximum of two terms. However if, as has occurred on a number of occasions, a consensus among political parties means that only a single candidate is nominated, then no actual ballot occurs.

Role

To become law a bill must theoretically first be approved by both the Dáil and the Senate, and then signed into law by the President. In most circumstances, however, the President is obliged to sign all laws approved by the Houses of the Oireachtas, and the powers of the Senate are limited to delay rather than veto. It is the Dáil, therefore, that is the supreme tier of the Irish legislature. The enacting formula for Acts of the Oireachtas is simply: "Be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows:-".

Powers

The Oireachtas has exclusive power to:

• Legislate, including approving the budget.
• Create subordinate legislatures.
• Propose changes to the constitution, which must then be submitted to a A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may be the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a... referendum.
• Raise military or armed forces.
• Allow international agreements to become part of the domestic law of the state.
• Pass certain laws having extra-territorial effect (in accordance with the similar practices of other states).
• Enact, when it considers a A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend certain normal functions of government or may work to alert citizens to alter their normal behaviors or to order government agencies to implement their emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as the rationale for suspending civil liberties... state of emergency to exist, almost any law it deems necessary.

Limitations

• Laws are invalid if, and to the extent that, they contradict the constitution.
• In the event of a conflict, The European Union is unique among international organizations in having a complex and highly developed system of internal law which has direct effect within the legal systems of its member states. In contrast to nations such as the United States, European nations subscribe to the principle that international law adopted... EU law also takes precedence over acts of the Oireachtas.
• It may not retrospectively criminalise acts that were not illegal at the time they were committed.
• It may not enact any law providing for the imposition of the Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime, often called a capital offense or a capital crime. Some jurisdictions that practice capital punishment restrict its use to a small number of criminal offences, principally... death penalty, even during a state of emergency.
• Under Article 2 and Article 3 of Bunreacht na hÉireann, the constitution of the Republic of Ireland, were adopted with the constitution as a whole in 1937, but completely revised by means of the Nineteenth Amendment which took full effect in 1999. As amended they grant the right to be... Article 3 of the constitution, the laws of the Oireachtas apply only to the twenty-six counties of the Republic of Ireland and not to Northern Ireland is an administrative region and one of four parts of the United Kingdom. It has a land border with the Republic of Ireland in the island of Ireland and is otherwise bounded by sea. It covers 14,139 square kilometres (5,459 square miles) in the north-east... Northern Ireland.

History

The word oireachtas comes from the Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. See IPA in Unicode if you have display problems. Irish (Gaeilge) is a Goidelic language spoken in Ireland and in small communities in Canada and Argentina. Irish is constitutionally recognised as the first official language... Irish language and has been the title of two parliaments in Ireland is an island in the north-western Europe. The first settlers arrived between 8000 and 7000 BC; these were followed by the first Celtic-speaking people between 700 and 500 BC and Viking settlers in the ninth century AD. Until the fifteenth century Ireland was a patch-work of... Irish history: the current Oireachtas of the Republic of Ireland, since 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). Events January January 1 - Anastasio Somoza becomes President of Nicaragua January 11 - The first issue of Look magazine goes on sale in the United States. January 19 - Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying... 1937, and, immediately before that, the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State of 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). Events January 7 - Dáil Éireann, the extra-legal parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64-57 votes. January 10 - Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann... 1922- 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). Events January January 1 - Anastasio Somoza becomes President of Nicaragua January 11 - The first issue of Look magazine goes on sale in the United States. January 19 - Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying... 1937.

The earliest parliament in Ireland was the This article is about the legislature abolished in 1801. For alternative meanings, see Irish parliament (disambiguation). Facade of the Irish Parliament House, in Dublin. Today the building houses a branch of the Bank of Ireland. The Parliament of Ireland was a legislature that existed from mediæval times until 1800... Parliament of Ireland in existence until Events January 1 - Legislative union of Ireland completed under the Act of Union 1800, bringing about the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. January 1 - Giuseppe Piazzi discovers the first (and largest) asteroid Ceres. January 20 - John Marshall is appointed Chief Justice of the United States. February 3 - William... 1801. This parliament governed the whole island of A true colour image of Ireland, captured by a NASA satellite on January 4, 2003. Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales are visible to the east. Ireland is located west of the European landmass, which is part of the continent of Eurasia. Ireland (Éire in Irish) is the... Ireland but was, over its history, subordinate to varying degrees to the English, and later British, The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories (it alone has parliamentary sovereignty). At its head is the Sovereign; it also includes an Upper House, called the House of Lords, and a Lower... Parliament. The Irish Parliament consisted of the Henry VIII, became the first King of Ireland in 1541. The precise title King of Ireland has only been used during two periods of Irish history. These were from 1541 until 1801, and from 1922 to 1949. Prior to 1541 there were a series of High Kings of Ireland as... King of Ireland, a The former House of Lords chamber in the Irish Parliament Building, today in use as a function room by the Bank of Ireland. The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from mediæval times until 1800. It was abolished along with... House of the Lords and a The Irish House of Commons by Francis Wheatley (1780). The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from from mediæval times until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected... House of Commons. In 1801 the Irish Parliament abolished itself when it adopted the (Redirected from 1801 Act of Union) The 1800 Act of Union merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain (itself a merger of England and Scotland under the Act of Union 1707) to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801. Under... Act of Union.

The next legislature to exist in Ireland only came into being in 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). Events January January 1 - Iolaire sinking disaster January 1 - Edsel Ford succeeds his father as head of the Ford Motor Company January 5 - Spartacist uprising - Socialist demonstrations in Berlin turn into attempted communist revolution January 9 - Spartacus revolutionary... 1919. This was an extra-legal, Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or parliamentary chamber. Many countries with unicameral legislatures are often small and homogeneous unitary states and consider an upper house or second chamber unnecessary. Unicameralists claim that an upper house makes no sense in a democracy, saying that if an upper... unicameral parliament establish by Irish nationalists, known simply as Dáil Éireann (translated as 'Assembly of Ireland'). The First Dáil, as it is known, was notionally a legislature for the whole island of Ireland. In 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. January 9 - Britain announces it will build 1,000,000 homes for war veterans. January 10 - League of Nations holds its first meeting... 1920, parallel to the First Dáil, the British government created a Devolution or Home rule is the pooling of powers from central government to government at regional or local level. It differs from federalism in that the powers devolved are temporary and ultimately reside in central government. Any devolved assemblies can be repealed by central government in the same way as... home rule legislature entitled the The Parliament of Southern Ireland was set up under the Government of Ireland Act to legislate for Southern Ireland. A Parliament of Northern Ireland was set up to legislate for Northern Ireland. The Parliament of Southern Ireland consisted of two houses: House of Commons of Southern Ireland Senate of Southern... Parliament of Southern Ireland. However this parliament was boycotted by Irish nationalists and so never came into full effect. It was made up of the King (in this case the monarch of Great Britain and Ireland), the House of Commons of Southern Ireland was the lower house of the Irish parliament created by the Government of Ireland Act, passed in 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. The Act created two partitioned Irish states, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland, each with their own two chamber assemblies, a... House of Commons of Southern Ireland and the The Senate of Southern Ireland (1921-1922) was the upper house of the Parliament of Southern Ireland theoretically established by the 1920 Government of Ireland Act. The Senate convened in 1921 but was boycotted by Irish nationalists. Only fifteen members attended its first meeting and it only met on two... Senate of Southern Ireland. The Parliament of Southern Ireland was formally abolished in 1922, with the establishment of the Oireachtas under the The Constitution of the Irish Free State was the constitution of the southern Irish state established in December 1922. It was enacted with the adoption of the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act, 1922, to which it was appended as a schedule, and was also known... Constitution of the Irish Free State.

The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State consisted officially of the King and two houses, named, as their successors would be, Dáil Éireann (described, in this case, as a 'Chamber of Deputies') and Seanad Éireann. However the Free State Senate was abolished in 1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). Events January January 1 - Italian colonies of Tripoli and Kyrenaika are joined together as Libya January 7 - Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French foreign minister Pierre Laval conclude agreement in which each power undertakes not to... 1935. The modern Oireachtas of the Republic of Ireland came into being in 1937, with the adoption by referendum of the Constitution of Ireland.

Footnote

• Note 1: Oireachtas may be roughly pronounced by English speakers as "o-roch-tus" (with the ch as in loch).

Related topics

• The Republic of Ireland is a sovereign, independent state. It is a representative democracy under a parliamentary system of government, with a president, prime minister and parliament. The capital city is Dublin. While there are a number of important political parties in the state, the two largest are Fianna F... Politics of the Republic of Ireland
• Alternative meanings: Parliamentary system, Parliament (band), Parliament (cigarette). A parliament is a legislative body, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system derived from that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French parlement , the action of parler (to speak) ... Parliament
• Chamber of the Estates-General, the Dutch legislature. A legislature is a governmental deliberative body with the power to adopt laws. Legislatures are known by many names, including: parliament, congress, diet and national assembly. In parliamentary systems of government, the legislature is formally supreme and appoints the executive. In presidential... Legislature
• In government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a parliament or legislature which consists of two Chambers or Houses. Bicameralism is an essential and defining feature of a classical republic. Theory Although the ideas on which bicameralism... Bicameralism

External link

• Official site (http://www.irlgov.ie/oireachtas/frame.htm)