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Republic of Ireland

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Ireland

Constitution Referendum

Oireachtas Seanad Éireann Cathaoirleach: Rory Kiely Dáil Éireann Ceann Comhairle: Rory O'Hanlon President: Mary McAleese Council of State Presidential Commission Government Taoiseach: Bertie Ahern Tánaiste: Michael McDowell Departments of State Minister of State Opposition Leader: Enda Kenny Civil Service Local Government Courts Supreme Court Chief Justice High Court Court of Criminal Appeal Special Criminal Court Circuit Court District Court Elections Presidential (2004) European (2004) Parliamentary (2002) Upcoming parliamentary (2007) Constituencies By-elections Political Parties Politicians Counties of Ireland EU Politics Foreign relations See also Politics of Northern Ireland

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Politics of Ireland (the Republic of Ireland) takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Dáil Éireann and the Seanad Éireann. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. While there are a number of important political parties in the state, the two largest are Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. The state is a member of the European Union.

Contents 1 Government 1.1 Constitution 1.2 Head of state 1.3 Executive 1.4 Legislature 1.5 Judiciary 1.6 Local government 1.7 North-South Ministerial Council 2 Political parties 3 Northern Ireland 4 International organisation participation 5 See also 6 Further reading 7 External links

Main office holders

Office	Name	Party	Since
President of Ireland	Mary McAleese		11 November 1997
Taoiseach (prime minister)	Bertie Ahern	Fianna Fáil	26 June 1997

Main article: Constitution of Ireland

The state operates under the Constitution of Ireland, officially known as Bunreacht na hÉireann, adopted in 1937. The constitution falls within the liberal democratic tradition. It defines the organs of government and guarantees certain fundamental rights. The constitution may only be amended by referendum. Important constitutional referenda have concerned issues such as abortion, the status of the Catholic Church, divorce and the European Union.

Main article: President of Ireland

The head of state is the President of Ireland. In keeping with the state's parliamentary system of government the President exercises largely a ceremonial role but does possess certain reserve powers. The presidency is open to all citizens who are at least 35. They are directly elected by secret ballot under the Alternative Vote also known as proportional representation.. A candidate may also be chosen by a consensus among the political parties, in which case it is unnecessary to proceed to a ballot. The President is elected to a seven year term; no candidate may serve more than two terms. In carrying out certain of their constitutional functions, the President is aided by the Council of State.

Main article: Irish Government

Executive authority is exercised by a cabinet known simply as the Government. The Government consists of the Taoiseach (prime minister), the Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) and up to thirteen other ministers. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President, after being designated by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of parliament). The remaining ministers are nominated by the Taoiseach and approved by the Dáil. The Government must enjoy the confidence of Dáil Éireann and, in the event that they cease to enjoy the support of the lower house, the Taoiseach must either resign or persuade the President to dissolve the Dáil, in which case a general election follows.

Main article: Oireachtas

The parliament of the Republic of Ireland is the Oireachtas. The Oireachtas consists of the President and two houses: Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann (also known as the Senate). The Dáil is by far the dominant tier of the legislature. The President may not veto laws in most circumstances and the Senate may only delay legislation.

• Dáil Éireann: The Dáil is directly elected at least once in every five years under the Single Transferable Vote form of proportional representation. Membership of the house is open to all citizens who are at least 21, and the electorate consists of adult Irish and UK citizens. It usually has around 160 to 170 members. Since the early 1990s no single party has had a majority in Dáil Éireann, meaning that coalition governments have been the norm.

• Seanad Éireann: The Senate is a largely advisory body. It consists of sixty members: eleven nominated by the Taoiseach, six elected by certain national universities, and 43 elected from special vocational panels of candidates. The Senate has the power to delay legislative proposals and is allowed 90 days to consider and amend bills sent to it by the Dáil.

Main article: Courts of the Republic of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland is a common law jurisdiction. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, the High Court and many lower courts established by law. Judges are appointed by the President after being nominated by the Government and can be removed from office only for misbehaviour or incapacity, and then only by resolution of both houses of the Oireachtas. The final court of appeal is the Supreme Court, which consists of the Chief Justice and seven other justices. The Supreme Court has the power of judicial review and may declare to be invalid both laws and acts of the state which are repugnant to the constitution.

Main article: Local government in the Republic of Ireland

Local government in the Republic of Ireland is governed by the Local Government Acts, the most significant of which was in 2001, which established a two-tier structure of local government. The top tier of the structure consists of 29 County Councils. Each of the Republic's 26 traditional counties have councils, with the exceptions of Dublin (divided between three councils), and Tipperary (divided into two). The five largest cities (Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford) also have City Councils, which have the same status as County Councils.

The second tier of local government consists of the town councils. The city of Kilkenny and four other town boroughs (Sligo, Drogheda, Clonmel, and Wexford), use the title of "Borough Council" instead of "Town Council", but they have no additional responsibilities. Local government bodies have responsibility for such matters as planning, roads, sanitation, and libraries.

Main article: North-South Ministerial Council

Under the Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement) and Article 3 of the constitution a North-South Ministerial Council and six North-South Implementation Bodies coordinate activities and exercise a limited governmental role within certain policy areas across the whole island of Ireland. The Implementation Bodies have limited executive authority in six policy areas. Meetings of the Council take the form of meetings between ministers from both the Republic's Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. The Council is currently suspended.

For other political parties see Political parties in the Republic of Ireland. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in the Republic of Ireland.

A number of political parties are represented in the Dáil and coalition governments are common. Neither of the two largest parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, strongly identifies itself as either a left or right-wing group. The third largest party in the state is the centre-left Labour Party. Labour is joined on the left by the Green Party and on the far-left by Sinn Féin and the Socialist Party. The right is represented by the Progressive Democrats who, while liberal on economic policy, are progressive on social matters. Independent TDs (MPs) also play an important role in Irish politics.

29th Irish General Election – 2002

Party		Party Leader	Seats								First-Preference Votes (in thousands)
			1997		at dissolution		2002		Change		1997		2002		Change
			#	% of Dáil	#	% of Dáil	#	% of Dáil	#	% of Dáil	#	%	#	%	%
	Fianna Fáil	Bertie Ahern	77	46.4	73	44.0	81	48.8	+8	+4.8	703.7	39.3	770.8	41.5	+2.2
	Fine Gael	Michael Noonan	54	32.6	54	32.6	31	18.7	-23	-13.9	499.9	27.9	417.7	22.5	-5.4
	Labour Party	Ruairí Quinn	211	12.7	20	12.0	20	12.0	-	-	230.9	12.9	200.1	10.8	-2.1
	Progressive Democrats	Mary Harney	4	2.4	4	2.4	8	4.8	+4	+2.4	83.8	4.7	73.6	4.0	-0.7
	Green Party	Trevor Sargent	2	1.2	2	1.2	6	3.6	+4	+2.4	49.3	2.8	71.5	3.8	+1.0
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	1	0.6	1	0.6	5	3.0	+4	+2.4	45.6	2.6	121.0	6.5	+3.9
	Socialist Party	Joe Higgins	1	0.6	1	0.6	1	0.6	-	-	12.4	0.7	14.9	0.8	+0.1
	Other Parties		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	40.2	2.2	12.1	0.7	-1.5
	Independents		6	3.6	10	6.0	13	7.8	+3	+1.8	123.1	6.9	176.3	9.5	+2.6
	Ceann Comhairle (Speaker)		-	-	1	0.6	1	0.6	-	-
	Vacant				0	0.0
Total			166	100.0	166	100.0	166	100.0	0	0.0	1789.0	100.0	1858.1	100.0	0.0

¹ All 1997 Labour figures include Democratic Left totals.

Northern Ireland has been a major factor in Irish politics since the island of Ireland was divided between Northern Ireland and what is now the Republic in 1920. The creation of Northern Ireland led to conflict between northern nationalists (mostly Roman Catholic) who seek unification with the Republic and Unionists (mostly Protestant) who wish for Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom. This conflict exploded into a violence in the late sixties with the beginning of the Troubles, involving groups such as the Provisional IRA, loyalist paramilitaries, the police and the British army. The Troubles have caused thousands of deaths in Northern Ireland but have also spilled over into bombings and acts of violence in England and the Republic.

Since its foundation it has been the stated long-term policy of governments of what is now the Republic to bring an end to the conflict in Northern Ireland and to bring about a united Ireland. Northern Ireland has also, in the past, often been a source of tension between the Irish Government and the government of the United Kingdom. In order to find a solution to the Troubles the Irish Government became a partner in the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement in 1998.

While Sinn Féin have long organised in both Northern Ireland and the Republic, Fianna Fáil have recently opened a cumann'(branch) in Derry and begun recruiting members at Queen's University, Belfast.

See also: History of Northern Ireland.

The Republic is member of the Australia Group, BIS, British-Irish Council, CE, Celtic League, EBRD, ECE, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICC, ITUC, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, International Maritime Organization, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNTAET, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WEU (observer), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, and the Zangger Committee.

In 2006 it was announced that the Republic of Ireland would be referred to at European Union meetings from 2007 as Éire-Ireland. This follows from the adoption of Irish as a working language of the European Union as of 1st January 2007.

• List of Ireland-related topics
• History of the Republic of Ireland
• History of Ireland
• List of Irish general elections
• List of Irish by-elections
• Parliamentary Constituencies in the Republic of Ireland
• The Reform Movement

• John Coakley & Michael Gallagher (Editors) Politics in the Republic of Ireland (Routledge, 2004) [1] [2]
• Sean Dooney & John O'Toole Irish Government Today (Gill & Macmillan Ltd., 1998) [3]
• Neil Collins & Terry Cradden Irish Politics Today (Manchester University Press, 2001) [4]
• Noel Whelan Politics, Elections and the Law (Blackhall Pubishing, 2000) [5]

• ElectionsIreland.org - Irish election results from 1920 to today.
• Politics.ie - Irish politics wiki, news and discussion site.