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This article is part of the series Politics of the R. of Ireland |
| President Council of State |
| Oireachtas Dáil Éireann Seanad Éireann |
| Taoiseach Tánaiste Government |
| Supreme Court Judiciary |
| Constitution Referendum |
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.
Aside from constitutional referenda, the constitution also provides, in extraordinary circumstances, for a referendum on a normal bill known as the ordinary referendum, but none has yet occurred.
The procedure for amending the constitution is specified in Article 46. A proposed amendment must take the form of a bill to amend the constitution originating in Dáil Éireann (the lower house of parliament). It must first be formally approved by both the Dail and the Senate in practice the Senate only has the power to delay an amendment adopted by the Dáil. Then it must be endorsed by the electorate in a referendum.
A simple majority is sufficient to carry an amendment and there is no minimum turn-out required for a constitutional referendum to be considered valid. The vote occurs by secret ballot. A proposal to amend the constitution put to a referendum must not contain any other proposal. While UK citizens resident in the state may vote in a general election, only Irish citizens can participate in a referendum.
After being approved by referendum an amendment must be signed into law by the President. However, this is merely a formality as, provided the correct procedure has been complied with, the President cannot veto an amendment. The dates given for the amendments listed in this article are (unless otherwise stated) the dates on which each amendment was signed into law.
Historically the constitution has also been amended by two other means. The Transitory Provisions that formed a part of the constitution at its adoption in 1937 provided that for an initial four year period (from 1937- 1941) the document could be amended by a simple act of the Oireachtas. The First and Second Amendments were adopted in this way.
Since 1941, however, when the Transitional Provisions lapsed, it has been required that every amendment occur by referendum. One partial exception to this, however, were the changes made to Articles 2 and 3 of the constitution in 1999. The Nineteenth Amendment, adopted by referendum in May, 1998, did not itself amend those articles but rather introduced, on a temporary basis, a special mechanism whereby the GovernmentThe Government ( Irish: Rialtas , also known as the Government of Ireland 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 t could order their amendment once it was satisfied that certain commitments made by other parties to the Belfast AgreementThe Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement was signed in Belfast on April 10 1998 by the British and Irish Governments and endorsed by most Northern Ireland political parties. It was endorsed had been complied with.