Revisiting the Legacy of the Amendment Procedure

The Constitution of the Irish Free State contained a standard provision that it would be amended by referendum requiring thresholds of both turnout and approval, which would have made the text difficult to amend. However, during a provisional period, amendments could be made in the same manner as ordinary legislation, without reference to the people. It was through the latter means that all twenty-five of the amendments to the text were made between 1922 and 1937. Although this proved a weakness in the stability of the text, these circumstances shaped the development of the nascent Irish state. Had the strict thresholds been applied, several of the amendments might not have been enacted or might have been enacted only after a delay. Elements of direct participatory democracy such as the initiative and referendum on legislation would have remained as tools of opponents of government, while the state would have had less freedom to respond swiftly to the changing relationship with the United Kingdom in the 1930s. The Constitution of Ireland in place since 1937 was built on the framework of its predecessor, including what was learned during this transitional period.