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What does the Irish President do anyway
Crash course in what goes down in the Aras.
Job #1, Uphold the constitution!
- The main responsibility of the President is to make sure that our Government obeys the constitution. Good news for us!
- Our constitution (Bunreacht na hÉireann) is basically a rule book for the country. It's a list of rules that no Government can change without asking our permission in a referendum. Yay, for people power!
- The constitution is to protect citizens (yep us!) from our elected governments.
- Our constitution is quite old and has a few things that might make you cringe in it. But, it’s actually a pretty good one when you compare it with some other countries. (Nerd Fact: South Africa’s new constitution drafted after Mandela at the end of apartheid was based mostly on ours. Score!)
Mary Robinson kickin it with some young peeps (Photo: NUI Maynooth)
The Job Spec
- Under the Constitution of Ireland, the President is meant to take ‘precedence over all other persons in the state.’ In real life however, the presidency is largely a symbolic office with few powers. In other words, our Prez doesn’t actually call the shots.
- In Ireland, it’s the Taoiseach (yep Enda) who has most of the power. There aren’t any real expectations here that our President should exercise any ‘political’ leadership. In fact, if the President tried to interfere in everyday politics, it would be discouraged.
- In recent years, the two Marys (Okay okay, President Mary Robinson and President Mary McAleese) have really expanded the symbollic type duties of president into something important.
- Mary Robinson used her presidency to call attention to Irish people living outside of Ireland and also to support many human rights initiatives.
- Mary Mc Aleese also widened out the role by putting great attention on youth mental health issues (big brownie points from us all at SpunOut.ie for that one!) among other cool things.
Mary McAleese, Brian, the boys and Prince William
7 year contract
- The President of Ireland is elected every 7 years by the people and can remain in office for two terms (that's 14 years max).
- If any of you want to be President, you have to actually be over the age of 35 (Grrr) and you must be nominated by either 20 members of the Oireachtas (i.e. TDs or Senators) or 4 county or borough councils.
- This nomination process puts the selection of candidates in the hands of the political parties, which is often seen as unfair by people who don't belong to a particular party but who are seeking nominations. That’s why this time we’ve been treated to all the news of Dana and Senator David Norris' last minute trips around the country seeking nominations.
Eamon de Valera was President from 1959-1973. Yup.
What can they do? Mwhahahahaa....
- In theory, the President makes a number of decisions on the ‘advice’ of the Government. But in practice, the President nearly always does what the Government says. In fact, the President has to ask permission of the Government in order to leave the country and all Presidential communications, messages or addresses must be approved by the Government – so there’ll probably not be any dodgy tweets emanating from our President.
- Likewise, the President is 'Supreme Commander of the Irish Defence Forces' (the army!). However in real life, the military command is operated by the Irish Government through the Minister for Defence who manages and controls the forces and their budget.
- There are some specific times when the President can make decisions without the advice of the Government, such as in referring a Bill (something the Government wants to make law) to the Supreme Court for a judgment on its constitutionality. This means checking that the bill doesn’t contradict anything in our constitution.
- The President can also refuse to dissolve the Dáil on the advice of a Taoiseach.
- The President also has to sign off on any Bill passed by the Oireachtas before it becomes law and has absolute power to refer a Bill to the Supreme Court to get a judgement on its constitutionality. The only exceptions to this are:
- Any Bills that relate to the country’s finances – that is so the President can’t hold up budgets or get in the Government's way in organising our state finances.
- Any Bill that wants to change the Constitution. If there is such a Bill, it has to be put out to a referendum where the people get to decide on it.
Patrick Hillery (Prez from 1976-1990) in a pic that is asking for a crazy caption!
What else are they up to?
- The President also makes State visits abroad and hosts other Heads of State on visits to Ireland at the official residence, Áras an Uachtaráin.
- The President plays a very active role in promoting Ireland's image and role to the rest of the world.
- Here at home, the President undertakes a wide range of public engagements, attending conferences and meetings, both formal and informal, throughout the island of Ireland.
- The President also presides over the President's Award (Gaisce) which is given to people for completing a number of tasks such as taking part in their community and doing charity work.
- For campaigners or activists, securing the president’s attendance at an event or support for an initiative can be very valuable.
And that’s about it in a brief version. That was brief, right?! If anyone wants a copy of the Constitution of Ireland (no harm to have it!) it only costs about €3 in any good bookshop.
By: Dan O'Neill
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