Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
Encyclopedia
The Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
Constitution of Ireland
The Constitution of Ireland is the fundamental law of the Irish state. The constitution falls broadly within the liberal democratic tradition. It establishes an independent state based on a system of representative democracy and guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected...

 introduced changes to Articles 2 and 3
Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland
Article 2 and Article 3 of the Constitution of Ireland were adopted with the constitution as a whole on 29 December 1937, but completely revised by means of the Nineteenth Amendment which took effect on 2 December 1999...

 of the constitution required by the 1998 Belfast Agreement
Belfast Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement , sometimes called the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process...

 (also known as the Good Friday Agreement). Prior to 1999, Articles 2 and 3 made the controversial claim that the whole island of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 formed one single "national territory". By means of the Nineteenth Amendment, Articles 2 and 3 were changed to an aspiration towards creating a united Ireland by peaceful means.

The Nineteenth Amendment was approved by referendum in 1998, at the same time as the Eighteenth Amendment
Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
The Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland permitted the state to ratify the Amsterdam Treaty. It was effected by the Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1998, which was approved by referendum on 22 May 1998 and signed into law on the 3 June of the same year.-Changes to the...

. However the Government of Ireland did not want the changes to Articles 2 and 3 to be made until it could confirm that other aspects of the Belfast Agreement had been complied with. For this reason the Nineteenth Amendment did not itself alter Articles 2 and 3. Rather it introduced a special mechanism whereby changes to Articles 2 and 3 could be brought about at a future date by a formal declaration made by the Government. That declaration was made in December 1999, whereupon the change in articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution took effect.

The Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1998 was approved by referendum on 22 May 1998 and signed into law on 3 June of the same year. The Government declaration was made on 2 December 1999, bringing the changes to Articles 2 and 3 and certain other parts of the constitution into effect.

Initial changes to the text made by the Nineteenth Amendment (1998)

The Nineteenth Amendment introduced Article 29, Section 7 to the constitution. Subsections 1 and 2 are here reproduced in full. Subsection 3 is a long subsection detailing further changes to be made, both to the English and Irish language
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

 texts of the constitution, once the Government issued a formal declaration that the Belfast Agreement had come into effect. Subsection 3 is therefore too long to be fully reproduced here. The 'activating' provisions are given below while the further changes to be made to the English version of the text upon the Government's declaration are detailed further below. All of the provisions in italics were temporary and, under their own terms, were removed by the Government declaration in 1999.

Insertion of new Article 29.7

1. The State may consent to be bound by the British-Irish Agreement done at Belfast on the 10th day of April, 1998, hereinafter called the Agreement.

2. Any institution established by or under the Agreement may exercise the powers and functions thereby conferred on it in respect of all or any part of the island of Ireland notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution conferring a like power or function on any person or any organ of State appointed under or created or established by or under this Constitution. Any power or function conferred on such an institution in relation to the settlement or resolution of disputes or controversies may be in addition to or in substitution for any like power or function conferred by this Constitution on any such person or organ of State as aforesaid.

3. If the Government declare that the State has become obliged, pursuant to the Agreement, to give effect to the amendment of this Constitution referred to therein, then, notwithstanding Article 46 hereof, this Constitution shall be amended as follows:

[See further below for these changes]

4. If a declaration under this section is made, this subsection and subsection 3, other than the amendment of this Constitution effected thereby, and subsection 5, of this section shall be omitted from every official text of this Constitution published thereafter, but notwithstanding such omission this section shall continue to have the force of law.

5. If such a declaration is not made within twelve months of this section being added to this Constitution or such longer period as may be provided for by law, this section shall cease to have effect and shall be omitted from every official text of this Constitution published thereafter.

Deletion of the entirety of Articles 2 and 3

2. The national territory consists of the whole island of Ireland, its islands and the territorial seas.

3. Pending the re-integration of the national territory, and without prejudice to the right of the Parliament and Government established by this Constitution to exercise jurisdiction over the whole of that territory, the laws enacted by that Parliament shall have the like area and extent of application as the laws of Saorstát Éireann
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...

 and the like extra-territorial effect.

Substitution of new Articles 2 and 3

2. It is the entitlement and birthright of every person born in the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and seas, to be part of the Irish nation. That is also the entitlement of all persons otherwise qualified in accordance with law to be citizens of Ireland. Furthermore, the Irish nation cherishes its special affinity with people of Irish ancestry living abroad who share its cultural identity and heritage.

3.1. It is the firm will of the Irish nation, in harmony and friendship, to unite all the people who share the territory of the island of Ireland, in all the diversity of their identities and traditions, recognising that a united Ireland shall be brought about only by peaceful means with the consent of a majority of the people, democratically expressed, in both jurisdictions in the island. Until then, the laws enacted by the Parliament established by this Constitution shall have the like area and extent of application as the laws enacted by the Parliament that existed immediately before the coming into operation of this Constitution.

3.2. Institutions with executive powers and functions that are shared between those jurisdictions may be established by their respective responsible authorities for stated purposes and may exercise powers and functions in respect of all or any part of the island.

Insertion of new Article 29.8

The State may exercise extra-territorial jurisdiction in accordance with the generally recognised principles of international law.

Changes to Article 29.7

  • Removal (with continued effect) from the text of Article 29.7.3 and Article 29.7.4 (see text in italics above)
  • Deletion of Article 29.7.5 (see text in italics above)

Overview

The amendment of Articles 2 and 3
Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland
Article 2 and Article 3 of the Constitution of Ireland were adopted with the constitution as a whole on 29 December 1937, but completely revised by means of the Nineteenth Amendment which took effect on 2 December 1999...

 was demanded by Unionists
Unionism in Ireland
Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...

 during negotiations leading to the Belfast Agreement. The Government declaration implementing the changes to Articles 2 and 3 also added a new provision (Article 29.8) related to the state's extraterritorial jurisdiction. The declaration furthermore operated to remove from the official text those provisions that had provided the temporary mechanism for Article 2 and 3's amendment. However, it was stated that these provision would continue to have effect, insofar as the changes they had brought about to other articles would continue to be valid.

The Nineteenth Amendment was introduced by the Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...

Progressive Democrats
Progressive Democrats
The Progressive Democrats , commonly known as the PDs, was a pro-free market liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland.Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Malley and other politicians who had split from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats took liberal positions on...

 coalition government of Bertie Ahern
Bertie Ahern
Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....

, but was supported by all major political parties. When put to a referendum it was overwhelmingly endorsed by over 94% of the participating electorate.

Result

See also

  • Northern Ireland Belfast Agreement referendum, 1998
  • Politics of the Republic of Ireland
    Politics of the Republic of Ireland
    Ireland is a parliamentary, representative democratic republic and a member state of the European Union. While the head of state is the popularly elected President of Ireland, this is a largely ceremonial position with real political power being vested in the indirectly elected Taoiseach who is...

  • History of the Republic of Ireland
    History of the Republic of Ireland
    The Irish state originally came into being in 1922 as the Irish Free State, a dominion of the British Commonwealth, having seceded from the United Kingdom under the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It comprises of 26 of Ireland's 32 counties...

  • History of Ireland
    History of Ireland
    The first known settlement in Ireland began around 8000 BC, when hunter-gatherers arrived from continental Europe, probably via a land bridge. Few archaeological traces remain of this group, but their descendants and later Neolithic arrivals, particularly from the Iberian Peninsula, were...

  • Partition of Ireland
    Partition of Ireland
    The partition of Ireland was the division of the island of Ireland into two distinct territories, now Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland . Partition occurred when the British Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act 1920...

  • Constitutional amendment
    Constitutional amendment
    A constitutional amendment is a formal change to the text of the written constitution of a nation or state.Most constitutions require that amendments cannot be enacted unless they have passed a special procedure that is more stringent than that required of ordinary legislation...

  • Irish constitutional referendum, 1998
    Irish constitutional referendum, 1998
    Two referendums were held together in the Republic of Ireland on 22 May 1998, each on a proposed amendment of the Irish constitution. Both measures were approved...


External links

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