Dáil Constitution

The Constitution of Dáil Éireann (Irish: Bunreacht Dála Éireann), more commonly known as the Dáil Constitution, was the constitution of the 1919–22 Irish Republic. It was adopted by the First Dáil at its first meeting on 21 January 1919 and remained in force for four years. As adopted it consisted of only five short articles. Article 1 declared that the Dáil had "full powers to legislate" and would consist of representatives elected in elections conducted by the British government. For the exercise of executive power it created a cabinet, answerable to the Dáil, called the Aireacht (or Ministry), headed by a prime minister called the "Príomh Aire" (in practice also known as the President of Dáil Éireann). The constitution made no reference to a judiciary but this did not prevent the Dáil from establishing a system of Dáil Courts. The final article of the constitution declared that it was intended to be a provisional document, in the sense that it was subject to amendment. As adopted the constitution came to only around 370 words. In comparison, the modern Constitution of Ireland has approximately 16,000 words. Overall, the structure of the document was roughly as follows:

As first adopted the Dáil Constitution made no provision for a head of state. Some deputies believed that the Dáil did not have authority to elect a President of the Republic and that there should be a direct election for the post. It was also the case that Sinn Féin had almost split between monarchists and republicans at its 1917 Ardfheis. However, in August 1921 the constitution was amended to state, vaguely, that the cabinet would be headed by "the President who shall also be Prime Minister". This allowed the then head of government, Éamon de Valera, to begin using the title President of the Republic. However, after de Valera left office in 1922 leaders resumed the practice of using the lesser title President of Dáil Éireann. The constitution provided that it could be amended in the same way it had been adopted, by a simple resolution of the Dáil. Changes were made to the document on two dates:

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