Ireland (1937-1949)
In the period from 1937 to 1949 it was legally unclear whether the Irish state was now a republic or still a form of constitutional monarchy , and whether the head of state was now the President or the King ( George VI ). The exact constitutional status of this period has since been the subject of much political discussion.
In 1937 the existing constitution of the Irish Free State was completely revised, the name of the state changed to "Ireland" (Éire) and all, except for the foreign policy, tasks of the British monarch in Ireland were transferred to the newly created President of Ireland . But the constitution did not explicitly set the form of government to be that of a republic, and the president was not named as head of state either. The unclear status did not end until 1949, when the king's foreign policy tasks were also withdrawn and the form of government was definitely established as a republic.
The status of the Irish state from 1936 to 1949 was only symbolic and had little practical impact, as the roles of both the king and the president were primarily representative. The only practical effect of the proclamation of the republic in 1949 was its withdrawal from the Commonwealth .
The 1936 constitutional amendment
The establishment of what is now the Republic of Ireland goes back to 1922 as an Irish Free State . This free state was ruled as a kind of constitutional monarchy at least until 1936 . The King of Great Britain, also King of Ireland, had a number of important roles, including executive power, the establishment of the cabinet and the promulgation of laws. The official representative of the King in Ireland was the Governor General .
In 1936, the 27th constitutional amendment of the government ( Oireachtas ) redistributed all the duties of the king, except for the representation of the state to the outside world, and the position of governor general was abolished. Executive power passed to the Executive Council , the right to determine its president, to the House of Commons (Dáil Éireann) and the power to finally approve laws to the Ceann Comhairle , the chairman of the Dáil.
The new constitution of 1937
The Constitution of Ireland , introduced in 1937, filled the void of the abolished Governor General by introducing a directly elected President. Since then, the "President of Ireland" has performed ceremonial functions: dissolving parliament, appointing the government and promulgating laws. From then on, the actual executive powers rested with the government. The new constitution contained many republican statements, such as: B. that the sovereignty emanates from the people, a ban on the granting of nobility titles and the introduction of an Irish state church.
But the Eamon de Valera government , which introduced the new constitution, decided not to proclaim a "Republic of Ireland". The Free State of "Ireland" (or Éire) was rather conceived as a preliminary stage for a unified Republic of Ireland, to which the six Northern Irish counties should then also belong.
In addition, the new constitution did not make the president head of state, but merely spoke of "primacy over all other persons within the state". On the contrary, Article 28 (identical to Article 51 of the previous constitution) left responsibility for external affairs (foreign policy, diplomatic corps, etc.) with the King. Article 28 (2) stipulated that the External Relations Act would continue to apply pending revision by Parliament.
1937-1949
Éamon de Valera (1882-1975) was Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) in 1937. De Valera founded the Fianna Fáil party in 1926 and became its chairman. In 1932 his party became the strongest force in the Irish Parliament and he was elected Prime Minister. De Valera held the office of Taoiseach continuously until 1948 (and then twice: 1951–1954 and 1957–1959). 1948–1951 was John A. Costello (1891–1976) Prime Minister.
Until the founding of the Republic of Ireland by the Republic of Ireland Act 1949 , the Irish President did not assume any international duties. At the same time, the role of the king was no longer apparent to most Irish citizens during this period. The king never visited the country and had no representatives there due to the abolition of the governor general.
De Valera was asked in 1945 to comment on the form of government. He insisted that Ireland was a republic. He said in front of the House of Commons:
- The state is understandably a republic. Let's look at every text and political theory and decide if the state doesn't have every characteristic that makes a republic. We are a democracy with unlimited power of the people. A representative democracy with different state organs under a written constitution. The executive power lies with the parliament, there is an independent judicial system under the constitution and the laws, as well as a head of state elected by the people who exercises his office for a fixed period.
When asked about the External Relations Act , he admitted:
- We are an independent republic linked to the Commonwealth of Nations through our foreign policy .
Regardless of de Valera's views, many political scholars viewed external representation as the key role of a head of state. This opinion was countered by President John A. Costello during a Senate debate in December 1948 that the proposed Republic of Ireland Bill , which he was about to introduce, would make the head of state "who should always be", namely the president. De Valera's party (at the time the opposition in the lower house) agreed to this proposal.
Republic of Ireland Act
The Republic of Ireland Act came into force on April 18, 1949. It was astonishing that this law changed the form of government to a republic without any changes to the constitution. The law consisted of three main points:
- The External Relations Act , which stipulated the king's public image, was repealed.
- The republic was established as a form of government.
- The maintenance of relations with other countries was passed on to the President.
This law also automatically ended the state's membership of the Commonwealth. The fact that he was now clearly head of state was underscored by Sean T. O'Kelly with state visits to the Vatican and France . A visit to Buckingham Palace with George VI. was also planned, but had to be canceled due to scheduling problems.
In 1952 the title of king in Great Britain was changed from "Queen of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions" to "Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and their other empires and territories". The title "King" or "Queen of Ireland" has been completely abolished.