President of Ireland

President of Ireland Uachtarán na hÉireann
Seal of the President
Standard of the President
Acting President Michael D. Higgins since November 11, 2011
Official seat	Áras to Uachtaráin
Term of office	7 years (one re-election possible)
Creation of office	Irish Constitution of July 1, 1937
Last choice	October 26, 2018
Salutation	President (a Uachtaráin) Your Excellency (a Shoilse)
Representation	Presidential Commission
website	www.president.ie

The President of Ireland ( Irish Uachtarán na hÉireann [ ˈuəxt̪əɾaːn̪ n̪ə ˈheːɾʲən̪ ]) is the head of state of the Republic of Ireland and thus holds its highest office. The President is elected directly by the Irish people every seven years and can be elected for a maximum of one further term. The presidency is largely a ceremonial position, but the president has some powers that are solely his responsibility. The office was created in 1937 by the Irish Constitution . The official seat of the President is Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin . The current incumbent Michael D. Higgins was re-elected on October 26, 2018 .

choice

→ Main article : Irish presidential election

The term of office of a president is seven years and a president can hold this position for a maximum of two terms. The President is elected directly by the Irish people by secret ballot and must be at least 35 years of age (Article 12). If a president can no longer exercise his office (for example because of serious illness or death), a new election must take place within 60 days. During this time the Presidential Commission takes over the duties of the President (Article 14).

tasks

The Irish Constitution provides for a parliamentary system under which the role of the President is largely ceremonial. Most functions can only be carried out by the president in close compliance with the constitution and by order of the government. However, the president has some personal powers that he can exercise in his own opinion. Unlike the presidents of other states , the Irish president is neither nominally nor de facto a kind of director general of the state. The executive power is in the hands of the Cabinet, but is encouraged to keep the President in all policy issues to date.

Ceremonial duties

• Appointment of the government: The President appoints the Taoiseach (head of government) after nomination by the Dáil Éireann (lower house ) and the other ministers after nomination by the Taoiseach and accepts their resignation. He can remove ministers from office on the advice of the Taoiseach. As determined by the government, the president must also appoint the members of the judiciary .
• Gathering and dissolving the Dáil Éireann: this task is carried out on the proposal of the government, with the exception of the possibility of refusing to dissolve it under certain circumstances.
• Signing of Proposals: The President is formally one of three pillars of the Oireachtas (Parliament). He cannot oppose any law passed by the House of Commons and the Senate - unless his exclusive powers allow it.
• Foreign policy significance: This task is also determined by the government. The President appoints Irish ambassadors and recognizes foreign ambassadors to Ireland. Ministers (since 1949) sign international treaties on behalf of the President.
• Supreme Commander of the Defense Forces : This role is also carried out at the behest of the government.

restrictions

• The president can only leave the country with the consent of the government.
• Any speech to the nation and speeches to parliament must be approved in advance by the government. Apart from that, the president has absolute freedom of speech. While previous presidents rarely made use of this right, the past two Presidents, Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese, use many opportunities to express their personal opinions without the government having a say, for example in interviews. However, the president is expected not to criticize the government directly.

Discretionary decisions

The President can decide independently in the following cases. Under certain circumstances he has to seek the opinion of the Council of State without being bound by it.

• Examination of legislative proposals: the President may, after consulting the State Council, send a draft law to the Supreme Court to have it checked for constitutionality. The Court is examining the draft as a whole; in the event of a negative result, the President may not sign the draft. This possibility of examination is the most widely used discretionary decision of the President. However, the President cannot exercise this right for the following drafts:
  • Budget drafts
  • Draft constitutional amendments
  • In the case of important bills for which the approval period of the Senate has been shortened
• Voting of legislative proposals by the population: If a majority of the Senate and a third of the Dáil Éireann sign a corresponding petition, the President, after consulting the Council of State, can only refuse to sign the draft (apart from constitutional amendments) if, in the draft, “ national importance ”. Then there are two ways to convert the draft into law:
  • by the population in a normal referendum
  • by the re-election of the government in a new election within eight months

This power of the president has not yet been used, as the government usually has a majority in the Senate that can block a third of the Dáil.

• Refusal to dissolve the House of Commons: Presidents can refuse to dissolve the Dáil Éireann at the request of a Taoiseach who has lost the Dáil's support. No use has been made of this right to date either, even if the opportunity to do so has already been given three times (1944, 1982 and 1994). Since this power is “entirely at one's own discretion” ( absolute discretion according to the English version of the Irish Constitution ) or “through its own advice” ( as a chomhairle féin according to the Irish version of the Constitution), the President must make this decision without consulting the State Council, as it consists of leaders of the political parties who could exert influence here. Since, according to legal experts, there is a difference between the two language versions in this case - according to the English version, the president could obtain the opinion of the opposition ; in the Irish version he is not allowed to do so - the rule applies that the Irish version is regarded as authentic.
• At the request of the Dáil and after consultation with the State Council, the President can impose a time limit up to which the Senate must decide on a draft law. Since the Senate does not have the power to reject a law, this is the time the Senate can delay a law.
• Establishment of a mediation committee: on the advice of the Senate, the President (after hearing the Council of State) can set up a mediation committee to resolve a dispute between the two Houses of Parliament as to whether a bill is considered a "budget law" ". This right has not yet been exercised .
• Speech to the lower or upper house: the president can, after consulting the State Council and in the event that his speech has been approved as a whole by the government, send an official personal address or a message to either or both houses. This right has been exercised four times, once each by Éamon de Valera and Mary Robinson and twice by Mary McAleese .
• Speech to the Nation: The President may, after consulting the Council of State and in the event that his speech is fully approved by the Government, make an official personal address or an official message to the nation. Erskine Childers was the only president to date to have done this (1974).

Succession

In the event of the President leaving office prematurely, the successor must be elected within 60 days. In the meantime, the so-called Presidential Commission takes over the tasks of the President.

In fact, the old president's term ends at midnight the day before the new president's inauguration. This commission also assumes the tasks of the President from midnight until the actual inauguration.

According to the constitution, the Council of State can also assume the functions of the President if both the President and the Commission are unable to do so; a situation that has not occurred before.

List of Irish Presidents

#	president	Term of office	Political party
-	Presidential Commission	December 29, 1937-25. June 1938
1.	Douglas Hyde	June 25, 1938-24. June 1945	(elected by all parties)
2.	Seán Ó Ceallaigh	June 25, 1945–24. June 1959 (2 terms)	Fianna Fáil
3.	Éamon de Valera	June 25, 1959-24. June 1973 (2 terms of office)	Fianna Fáil
4th	Erskine Childers	June 25, 1973–17. November 1974	Fianna Fáil
	Presidential Commission	November 17, 1974-19. December 1974
5.	Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh	December 19, 1974-22. October 1976	Fianna Fáil
	Presidential Commission	October 22, 1976-3. December 1976
6th	Patrick Hillery	December 3, 1976–2. December 1990 (2 terms)	Fianna Fáil
7th	Mary Robinson	December 3, 1990-12. September 1997	Irish Labor Party
-	Presidential Commission	September 12, 1997-10. November 1997
8th.	Mary McAleese	November 10, 1997-11. November 2011 (2 terms)	Fianna Fáil
9.	Michael D. Higgins	November 11, 2011 - officiating (2 terms of office)	Irish Labor Party

Residence, salute, form of address

The seat of the Irish President is Áras an Uachtaráin . The building is located in Phoenix Park in Dublin . It has 29 rooms and was formerly the summer residence of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and two of the three ( Timothy Michael Healy and James McNeill ) Governors General of the Irish Free State .

The President is formally addressed as “President” ( English President or Irish A Uachtaráin ), usually without the prefix “Mr.” or “Madam”. Sometimes "Your Excellency" (English Your Excellency or Irish A Shoilse ) is used.

The presidential salute is part of the Irish national anthem , Amhrán na bhFiann , and consists of the first and last two lines of the song.

Inauguration

The President's inauguration is a formal ceremony held at Dublin Castle in St. Patrick's Hall the day after the former President's term ends .

According to the Irish Constitution, if the President accepts office, he must sign a formal notice in the presence of Members of both Houses of Parliament, Supreme Court Justices and other "personalities", which will be published.

In front of the assembled members of the Dáil Éireann , the Seanad Éireann , the government, the judiciary, in front of members of the local authorities, diplomats and other invited guests, and with the members of the Council of State behind him, the President must take the following oath of office:

• In Irish : I láthair Dia na nUilechumhacht, táimse á ghealladh agus á dhearbhú go sollúnta is go fírinneach bheith i mo thaca agus i mo dhidín do Bhunreacht Éireann, agus dlíthe a chaomhnú, mo dhualgais anh de roché coins anh de rhinos dlí, agus mo lándícheall a dhéanamh ar son leasa is fónaimh mhuintir na hÉireann. Dia do mo stiúradh agus do mo chumhdach .
• In English : In the presence of Almighty God I do solemnly and sincerely promise and declare that I will maintain the Constitution of Ireland and uphold its laws, that I will fulfill my duties faithfully and conscientiously in accordance with the Constitution and the law, and that I will dedicate my abilities to the service and the welfare of the people of Ireland. May God direct and sustain me.

Although the oath of office can be taken in either language, every single president has done so in Irish. Even Erskine Hamilton Childers , who had never learned Irish, chose the Irish version, albeit reluctantly.

The religion

The day of the inauguration includes various rituals and ceremonies. Until 1983, the new President and his partner were accompanied by the Blue Hussars (a ceremonial army troop) to one of Dublin's cathedrals ( St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral for Catholics , St. Patrick's Cathedral for members of the Church of Ireland ).

In the 1970s, instead of the previously separate religious services, one held one for both denominations in the respective cathedral. Services also included a prayer hour in a Dublin synagogue ; President Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh held it in 1976 to honor the Irish's longstanding relationships with the Jewish community.

In 1983, at a time of economic austerity, the church ceremonies were merged with the actual inauguration ceremony, at which the new president now collects ecclesiastical blessings from the Roman Catholic Church , the Church of Ireland , the Presbyterian Church in Ireland , the Methodist Church of Ireland , the Religious Society of Friends , Jews and Muslims . This cross-denominational and cross-religious blessing has also taken place at all other inaugurations since 1983.

But there is also criticism of the integration of the religious blessing into the actual inauguration ceremony, as some guests may have certain reservations about other denominations, and therefore considerations to outsource this part again.

The way to Dublin Castle

The new President will be accompanied by the Blue Hussars on his way to and from Dublin Castle . There was even a mounted escort until 1947. But in order to save money, the government under Éamon de Valera replaced the Irish horses with Japanese motorcycles, which should look more imposing in the eyes of the then Defense Minister.

In 1945, accompanied by the horse escort, the new President Seán Ó Ceallaigh drove in the old state landau of Queen Alexandra of Denmark , who was popular with the population. But an accident happened with this vehicle at the Dublin Horse Show , which led to the fact that a Rolls-Royce has been used for the President's drive since 1947 - the original vehicle from 1947 to this day, by the way.

Dress guidelines

At the first inauguration in 1938, President chose Douglas Hyde , (Engl. To one day Swallowtail Morning Suit - a similar cutaway with a black velvet hat to wear). Morning suits were the standard attire at presidential introductions until 1997, when at Mary McAleese's ceremony, her husband, who disliked formal attire, did not wear them. In McAleese's new “informal” dress code, guests were required to wear regular suits and judges were prohibited from putting on their traditional wigs and capes. The ambassadors were also advised not to wear national clothing. While some welcomed the new informality, others criticized it as “devaluing the ceremony”.

Address by the new president

Immediately after taking office, the new president usually addresses a few words to those present, although the Constitution provides for government approval for all official speeches "to the nation" or "parliament". In fact, the Court has already dealt with the question of whether the authorization requirement also applies to this case. Since the practical feasibility appeared questionable, the provision ultimately does not apply; on the other hand, it is expected that the newly appointed president will exercise due restraint with regard to content.

end of the day

The new president will be picked up from his private apartment in the morning and brought to the ceremony (unless it is a case of a second term; in which case the new and old president already lives in the official residence). After the ceremony, the new incumbent will be taken through the streets of Dublin to his office in Áras an Uachtaráin , where he will be met by the Secretary of State. In the evening there is a reception from the government at Dublin Castle.

Misconduct and impeachment

The Irish Constitution only provides two ways of removing a president before the seven years have elapsed, namely by

• the Supreme Court if at least five judges are of the opinion that the President can no longer exercise his office permanently
• Parliament, but only in the case of abuse of office. Either of the two houses of parliament can have the president removed from office, but there must be a two-thirds majority and the request must have been made by at least 30 members. While one house brings up the allegations, the other house decides, itself or through a committee, whether these are true. In the event of a two-thirds majority and on condition that the offense is serious enough to be removed from office, the president can then be removed from office. To this day there has been no impeachment.

history

The office of "President of Ireland" was created in 1937 and replaced the office of Governor General of the Irish Free State , which existed from 1922 to 1937. The seven-year term was inspired by that of the presidents of Germany and Austria at that time. At the time of its inception, critics warned that the office posed the risk of dictatorship ; a fear that should turn out to be unfounded.

Many believe that Mary Robinson, as the seventh president during her tenure from 1990 to 1997, greatly liberalized the former Conservative office. She tried to establish a new feeling for the state economy, made political and cultural alliances with other countries and cultures, emphasized the needs of developing countries , compared the Great Famine with the current diet of the Irish as well as poverty and tried to build a bridge between developing countries and industrialized countries to build. Robinson was the first president to visit Rwanda after the 1994 genocide and Somalia in 1992.

Controversy

Northern Ireland

The original text of the constitution of Ireland , as it was adopted in 1937, described (in the meantime the text has been changed by constitutional amendment) in the controversial Articles 2 and 3 two geopolitical units: a state territory comprising 32 counties (= the Irish island) and a state from 26 counties (= the area of ​​the former Irish Free State). The idea behind the title "President of Ireland" was the presidency of all Ireland, but this was contested by the unionists in Ulster and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , the internationally recognized state with authority over Northern Ireland.

In response, the Republic of Ireland questioned the proclamation of the British Parliament of Queen Elizabeth II as "Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland " in 1952 . The government also refused to attend royal events. For example, President Hillery did not appear at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1981 despite an invitation from Queen Elizabeth, and in 1953, Seán Ó Ceallaigh, on the advice of the government, refused to attend a coronation garden party at the British Embassy. As a countermeasure, Great Britain insisted on only addressing the President as “President of the Republic of Ireland” or “President of the Republic of Ireland”; Official letters from Queen Elizabeth to appoint ambassadors, for example, were addressed directly to the President, "President Hillery".

This dispute had been quiet for a long time until President Robinson unilaterally broke a taboo and regularly visited England to exercise public functions, mainly in relation to Anglo-Irish relations and the Irish emigrant community in Great Britain. In return, she was invited to Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth II ; on the British side, this visit was given as a "visit by the President of Ireland". Mary McAleese, Robinson’s successor, also visited the palace several times, and in return the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, the Earl of Wessex and the Duke of Edinburgh came to Ireland.

Although the title “President of Ireland” implies authority in Northern Ireland, the reality of the Irish President needs parliamentary approval to travel to Northern Ireland as this is viewed as an “overseas visit” - a permit given prior to Mary Robinson's tenure was regularly rejected. Mary McAleese, self-born Northern Irish, has, like her predecessor, toured Northern Ireland several times and, as a sign of the modern Anglo-Irish relationship, has even been welcomed by leading unionists. At the funeral of a child killed by the Real IRA in Omagh , she symbolically walked hand in hand with unionist leader David Trimble in the church down the aisle. In 2002, when Queen Elizabeth II visited the Parliament building in Northern Ireland and spoke about Irish identity and nationalism, Sinn Féin refrained from organizing protests and demonstrations.

Despite the amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution as a result of the Good Friday Agreement , the official title of President remains “President of Ireland”, even if there is hardly any dispute that the President only holds the highest office of the Republic and therefore in the Practice (unofficially) Ireland's head of state. Due to the fact that Mary McAleese was born in Northern Ireland, she is also regarded by many nationalists in Northern Ireland as their president, and there are initial thoughts to allow Northern Irish voters to participate in presidential elections.

Head of State from 1937 to 1949

→ Main article : 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, the Irish government or the British king - then George VI.  - has been. 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 was changed to "Ireland" (Éire) and, with the exception of foreign policy, all duties 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 uncertain status did not end until 1949, when the king's foreign policy tasks were also taken away and the form of government was definitely regulated as a “republic”. With this, the president finally became head of state.

The status of the Irish state from 1937 to 1949 was only symbolic and had little practical effect, as both the king and president roles were largely ceremonial. The only practical effect of the declaration of the Republic in 1949 was the termination of the state's membership in the Commonwealth .

Web links

Commons : Presidents of Ireland  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• www.president.ie - official website (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ This fact has led to the fact that the presidents had at times strictly prevented any attempt at contact. This was particularly evident in January 1982 when President Patrick Hillery instructed his staff member, Captain Anthony Barber, not to put through any phone calls. But three members of the opposition, among them Charles Haughey , the leader of Fianna Fáil , asked to be put through to the president. Haughey even threatened Barber with the end of his (military) career. So Hillery, as Supreme Commander, made a note of these threats on Barber's files and made it clear that Barber had acted on the President's instructions. Allegedly Haughey's threat was literally: "when I am in [power], I intend to roast your fucking ass if you don't put me through immediately". "If I have the power, I'll roast your fucking ass, should." Don't put me through immediately. ").
2. ↑ Werner Weidenfeld (Ed.): Europa-Handbuch , Verlag Bertelsmann-Stiftung , Gütersloh 1999, ISBN 3-89204-819-3 , p. 142.