The Constitution of Ireland is the founding legal document of the state known today as the Republic of Ireland. 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.
 
  The constitution was adopted in 1937 by referendum, and may only be amended in the same manner. It is also widely referred to in English by its Irish language title, Bunreacht na hÉireann .
  
  Background  
  The Constitution of Ireland replaced the Constitution of the Irish Free State which had been in effect since the southern state became independent from the United Kingdom in 1922. There were two main motivations for replacing the old constitution in 1937.
 
  Firstly, the old constitution was indelibly associated with the controversial Anglo-Irish Treaty. Those opposed to the treaty initially boycotted the institutions of the new Irish Free State but in 1932 were elected into power as the Fianna Fáil party.
 
  Since 1922 many of the provisions of the Free State constitution demanded by the Anglo-Irish Treaty had been dismantled piece by piece under the doctrine of "constitutional autochthony" or legal nationalism. So, for example, amendments had removed references to the Oath of Allegiance, appeals to the Privy Council, the British Crown, and the Governor General. Nevertheless, the Fianna Fáil government, led by Eamon de Valera, still believed it desirable that a new, entirely native constitution replace one that had been the partial imposition of the British government.  
  The second motive for replacing the old constitution was that since its adoption it had been subjected to a great many, often rather ad hoc amendments. After 1922 the government of the Free State regularly exploited a provision of the constitution that allowed it to be amended by a simple act of parliament.
 
  Sometimes a normal act of parliament would contain within it a blanket provision stating that, if it were found to be incompatible with the constitution, the act should be interpreted as an implicit amendment to it. For these reasons, as well, many saw it as desirable that the old constitution be abandoned entirely, in favour of a clean slate.  
  Drafting process  
  Eamon de Valera, oversaw the drafting of a new constitution. The Bunreacht was the work of Eamon de Valera, President of the Executive Council (prime minister) of the Irish Free State. It was actually drafted in two languages, Irish and English: in Irish by Micheál Ó Gríobhtha (assisted by Risteárd Ó Foghludha), who worked in the Irish Department of Education, and in English by John Hearne, legal advisor to the Department of External Affairs (now called the Department of Foreign Affairs). De Valera served as his own External Affairs Minister, hence the use of the Department's Legal Advisor, with whom he had previously worked closely, as opposed to the Attorney-General or someone from the Department of the President of the Executive Council.
  
  Though many presumed that the constitution was drafted in English and merely translated into Irish, in reality it was in effect written in both languages almost simultaneously, with each co-author borrowing from the other's work. The result is that at a number of points the texts clash. In the event of such a clash, the Irish language, though paradoxically the less well worded legally, given that its author was not a lawyer, takes precedence.
  
  Though controversial, de Valera's work has received international praise. Notwithstanding its actual contents, it is widely seen as a model constitution in terms of its clear legal language, order and structure. It has often been compared to the 1958 Constitution of the French Fifth Republic, which is generally seen by political scientists as inferior in terms of clarity and structure. The Bunreacht has been studied worldwide, for example in Nehru's India and Mandela's South Africa. Its office of President of Ireland was one of six studied closely by Australia's Republic Advisory Committee as Australia considered becoming a republic. The Constitution is currently being reviewed by the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution.
  
  Enactment
  
  Bunreacht na hÉireann was passed by Dáil Éireann (the sole house of parliament) on 14 June and then approved narrowly in a plebiscite of voters on 1 July 1937. It came into force on 29 December 1937. Among the groups who voted against it were supporters of the Fine Gael and Labour opposition parties, Unionists, supporters of the Commonwealth and women. Its main support came from Fianna Fáil supporters and republicans. The question put to voters was simply "Do you approve of the Draft Constitution which is the subject of this plebiscite?".
  
  View the full text of the current Constitution  

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