Question relevance of presidency
■ There is continuing conversation concerning President Michael D Higgins’s wish to seek a second term.
The position of President was created by the 1937 Constitution, but the existence of a similar position in the Governance of Ireland goes back centuries in the personage of the Lord Lieutenant. They were initially English politicians who came to Ireland as a stage in a ministerial career or occasionally as a form of exile from the domestic political scene. They were not resident, coming to Ireland to meet the Irish Parliament every two years. After the Act of Union its possible abolition was discussed by the British parliament in 1823, 1830, and 1844 as Ireland was part of the UK and neither Scotland or Wales had an equivalent post.
Edward Cooke, the powerful undersecretary who guided the enactment of the Act of Union, also noted that in the new situation post the Union the remaining function of the Lord Lieutenant was to hold banquets and balls at which the aristocracy attended.
After the departure of the British direct control of Ireland as part of the Free State Act 1923, governor generals were installed as representatives of the British crown. Conscious of the sensitivities’ of the post, they allowed the Dáil to nominate the governors generals between 1922 and 1937, the first was Tim Healy and the last was Domhnall Ua Buachalla.
The 1937 Constitution included the position of President with very limited powers as follows: to refuse “in his absolute discretion” a dissolution to a Taoiseach who has no Dáil majority, and he can in those circumstances convene a meeting of the Oireachtas after consulting the council of State, and finally to refer a bill to the Supreme Court for a decision on its constitutionality.
The fact that both the two major parties supported Mr Higgins’s decision to seek another term can be understood against a possible high probability of future “hung Dáils” in that neither party wished to be forced into what they might term as unacceptable coalition partners.
So Michael, enjoy your popularity and continue to host State banquets and enjoyable foreign trips at the taxpayers’ expense. I believe that a conversation about the relevance of the position might be appropriate.
Hugh Duffy