dil ireann (irish free state)

This article is about Dil ireann as it existed during the Irish Free State. For a general article on the assembly see: Dil ireann.

From 1922-1937 Dil ireann served as the directly elected lower house of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State. The Free State constitution described the role of the house as that of a "Chamber of Deputies". Until 1936 the Free State Oireachtas also included an upper house known as the Seanad. Like its modern successor, the Free State Dil was, in any case, the dominant component of the legislature; it effectively had authority to enact almost any law it chose, and to appoint and dismiss the President of the Executive Council (prime minister). The Free State Dil ceased to be with the creation of the modern 'Dil ireann' under the terms of the 1937 Constitution of Ireland.

Composition

Under the Free State constitution membership of Dil ireann was open to all citizens who had reached the age of twenty-one. However those who were legally disqualified or who were members of the Seanad were excluded. For most of the period of the Irish Free State the constitution also contained a controversial requirement that all members of the Oireachtas swear a oath of fidely to the King, known as the Oath of Allegiance. The oath was, however, abolished by a constitutional amendment in 1936. As today, during the Irish Free State Dil ireann was elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage. However the franchise was restricted to those over twenty-one. As adopted the constitution required that a Dil's term would last for four years, unless the law specified a shorter period or the house was dissolved early. However after changes to the constitution and the law in 1927, the constitutional maximum became six years, and the legal maximum five¹. The Dail could be dissolved at any time by the King, acting on the advice of Executive Council. The Free State constitution merely required that the Dil be elected by "proportional representation" but in practice it was the Single Transferable Vote system that was used. While every Irish Government since 1937 has restricted Dil constituencies to a maximum of five seats, during the Irish Free State there were several six, seven and eight seat constituencies. During the Free State Galway was a single nine seat constituency. As well as geographical constituencies the Free State also included two university constituencies which each returned three TDs (MPs). The franchise for the university constituencies was open to all those who had been awarded degrees from either institution. However anyone voting in a university constituency was excluded from voting in their geographical district. The university constituencies were abolished in 1936 under the Electoral (University Constituencies) Act, 1936. However, in 1937 university constituencies would be revived for the newly created Senate.

Powers

The Free State constitution provided that the President of the Executive Council would be appointed by the King "on the nomination of" the Dil and that the Executive Council as a whole had to resign en bloc if it lost the confidence of the lower house. In practice these provision meant that the President was chosen by the Dil, which could bring down his cabinet by a vote of no confidence, or failure to approve a vote of confidence. A constitutional amendment passed in 1936 removed the role of the King entirely and provided that, in the final months of the Free State, the President would be elected by the Dil directly, rather than merely being 'nominated' by the lower house. Technically a bill had to be approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas and to receive the Royal Assent in order to become law. However, in practice it was the Dil that decided what laws would be enacted and repealed. Before its complete abolition the Free State Seanad merely had power to delay legislation. While during the early years of the Irish Free State there existed a theoretical possibility that the King, or the Governor-General acting on his behalf, might veto an act of the Oireachtas or dismiss the Executive Council against the wishes of the Dil, with the passage of the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act, 1927 the British Government lost the right to formally advise the King in relation to the Free State and so the possibility of the Governor-General taking any action without the approval of the other institutions of government became a remote possibility. Unlike its modern successor, the Free State Dil did not have authority to declare war, this power being reserved for the Oireachtas as a whole. However in practice this distinction was not important. During the later days of the Irish Free State the Dil, as the dominant component of the Oireachtas, had the effective authority to amend the constitution in any way it chose. Today this is a level of authority that no Dil has had since 1941.

History

From 1919-1922 Dil ireann served as the title of a revolutionary, unicameral parliament established by Irish nationalists. The First Dil and the Second Dil thus existed outside of British law. The Third Dil was elected under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty as a constituent assembly to approve the Free State constitution and pave the way for the creation of the new state. However, once the Constitution of the Irish Free State was in effect the Third Dil served as the lower house of a new parliament, called the Oireachtas. Under the terms of the constitution, however, the Third Dil merely carried out the functions of the Dil during this period until a new chamber could be elected. The first Dil of the Irish Free State was therefore officially the Fourth Dil, which was elected in 1923. On 29th December, 1937 the Constitution of Ireland came into force and the Irish Free State was succeeded by a state know today as the Republic of Ireland. The new constitution had been adopted by plebiscite on the 1st July of that year, and on the same day the Ninth Dil was elected. The Ninth Dil was therefore elected as the lower house of the Free State Oireachtas but in December its role changed to that of lower house of a new legislature.

Footnote

The constitutional maximum was increased from four to six years by the Constitution (Amendment No. 4) Act, 1927. The five year legal maximum was imposed by the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 1927.