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Constitution of Ireland
Contents:
Constitution of Ireland
Enacted by the People 1st July, 1937
In operation as from 29th December, 1937
This text of the Constitution is a copy of the text enrolled on 27 May, 1999 pursuant to Article 25.5.2° except that: the Transitory Provisions (Articles 51-63) are omitted as required by their terms; the Irish text has been altered so as to make it conform to modern standardized Irish; the twentieth amendment, enacted subsequent to enrolment, is incorporated; the new Articles 2 and 3 and the new section 8 in Article 29 are inserted pursuant to the provisions of the Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1998. Amendments effected since the Constitution was enacted in 1937 up to the time of printing of this edition (December 1999) are listed below.
AMENDING ACTS
| SHORT TITLE | DATES OF SIGNATURE
| First Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1939[Extended to conflicts in which the State is not a participant the provision for a state of emergency to secure the public safety and preservation of the State in time of war or armed rebellion.] | 2 September, 1939
| Second Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1941[An omnibus proposal, covering a range of disparate Articles, aimed at tidying up the Constitution in the light of experience since its enactment.] | 30 May, 1941
| Third Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1972[Allowed the State to become a member of the European Communities.] | 8 June, 1972
| Fourth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1972[Reduced the minimum voting age at Dáil and Presidential elections and referendums from 21 years to 18 years.] | 5 January, 1973
| Fifth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1972[Removed from the Constitution the special position of the Catholic Church and the recognition of other named religious denominations.] | 5 January, 1973
| Sixth Amendment of the Constitution (Adoption) Act, 1979[Ensured that adoption orders made by the Adoption Board could not be declared invalid because they were not made by a court.] | 3 August, 1979
| Seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Election of Members of Seanad Éireann by Institutions of Higher Education) Act, 1979[Provided for the election of members of Seanad Éireann by universities and other institutions of higher education.] | 3 August, 1979
| Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1983[Acknowledged the right to life of the unborn, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother.] | 7 October, 1983
| Ninth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1984[Extended the right to vote at Dáil elections to certain non-Irish nationals.] | 2 August, 1984
| Tenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1987[Allowed the State to ratify the Single European Act.] | 22 June, 1987
| Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1992[Allowed the State to ratify the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht) and to become a member of that union.] | 16 July, 1992
There is no Twelfth Amendment. On 25 November 1992, three proposals were put to the people, the Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. The people rejected the Twelfth (which dealt with the right to life of the unborn) and approved the Thirteenth and Fourteenth (below).
| Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1992[Provided that Article 40.3.3° (the right to life of the unborn) would not limit freedom to travel between Ireland and another state] | 23 December, 1992
| Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1992[Provided that Article 40.3.3° (the right to life of the unborn) would not limit freedom to obtain or make available information relating to services lawfully available in another state.] | 23 December, 1992
| Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1995[Provided for the dissolution of marriage in certain specified circumstances.] | 17 June 1996
| Sixteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1996[Provided for the refusal to bail by a court to a person charged with a serious offence where it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent the commission of a serious offence by that person.] | 12 December, 1996
| Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1997[Provided that the confidentiality of discussions at meetings of the Government would be respected save only where the High Court, in certain specified circumstances, determined that disclosure should be made] | 14 November, 1997
| Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1998[Allowed the State to ratify the Treaty of Amsterdam.] | 3 June, 1998
| Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1998[Allowed the State to consent to be bound by the British-Irish Agreement done at Belfast on 10 April 1998 and provided that certain further amendments to the Constitution, notably to Articles 2 and 3, would come into effect when that agreement entered into force.] | 3 June, 1998
| Twentieth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1999[Provided constitutional recognition of the role of local government and that local elections are held at least every five years.] | 23 June, 1999
In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, from Whom is all authority and to Whom, as our final end, all actions both of men and States must be referred,
We, the people of Éire,
Humbly acknowledging all our obligations to our Divine Lord, Jesus Christ, Who sustained our fathers through centuries of trial,
Gratefully remembering their heroic and unremitting struggle to regain the rightful independence of our Nation,
And seeking to promote the common good, with due observance of Prudence, Justice and Charity, so that the dignity and freedom of the individual may be assured, true social order attained, the unity of our country restored, and concord established with other nations,
Do hereby adopt, enact, and give to ourselves this Constitution.
Contents:
Chicago: "Constitution of Ireland," Constitution of Ireland in Constitution of Ireland (Dublin, Ireland: Department of the Taoiseach, Ireland, 2002), Original Sources, accessed November 23, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=G13KKIWDKAVJZJR.
MLA: . "Constitution of Ireland." Constitution of Ireland, in Constitution of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland, Department of the Taoiseach, Ireland, 2002, Original Sources. 23 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=G13KKIWDKAVJZJR.
Harvard: , 'Constitution of Ireland' in Constitution of Ireland. cited in 2002, Constitution of Ireland, Department of the Taoiseach, Ireland, Dublin, Ireland. Original Sources, retrieved 23 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=G13KKIWDKAVJZJR.
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