It guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected non-executive president, a bicameral parliament, a separation of powers and judicial review.

This element, led by Éamon de Valera, formed the Fianna Fáil party in 1926, which entered into government following the 1932 general election.

[5][6] After 1932, under the provisions of the Statute of Westminster, some of the articles of the original Constitution which were required by the Anglo-Irish Treaty were dismantled by acts of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State.

Such amendments removed references to the Oath of Allegiance, appeals to the United Kingdom's Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the British Crown and the Governor-General.

[12][13] He also received significant input from John Charles McQuaid, the then President of Blackrock College, on religious, educational, family and social welfare issues.

[15] A draft of the constitution was presented personally to the Vatican for review and comment on two occasions by the Department Head at External Relations, Joseph P. Walsh.

Prior to its tabling in Dáil Éireann and presentation to the Irish electorate in a plebiscite, Vatican Secretary of State Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, said of the final amended draft: "We do not approve, neither do we disapprove; We shall maintain silence.

"[16] The quid pro quo for this indulgence of the Catholic Church's interests in Ireland was the degree of respectability which it conferred on De Valera's formerly denounced republican faction and its reputation as the 'semi-constitutional' political wing of the 'irregular' anti-treaty forces.

Taoiseach Éamon de Valera and clericalist advisors such as John Charles McQuaid considered constitutional provisions to incorporate land redistribution, credit system regulation, and welfare rights.

Late in the drafting process, however, de Valera re-wrote these initially robust socio-economic rights as non-binding 'directive principles', primarily to satisfy the Department of Finance's preferences for minimal state spending.

In line with Ireland's banks and grazier farming interests, the final wording thus preserved the state's existing currency and cattle trading relations with the United Kingdom.

[18] The text of the draft constitution, with minor amendments, was approved on 14 June 1937 by Dáil Éireann (then the sole house of parliament, the Seanad having been abolished the previous year).

[20][21][22] The constitution came into force on 29 December 1937 and, to mark the occasion, the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs issued two commemorative stamps on that date.

[24] The Irish Times criticised the constitution's assertion of a territorial claim on Northern Ireland, and the absence in its text of any reference to the British Commonwealth.

Writing in the Irish Democrat, Peadar O'Donnell and Frank Ryan condemned the 1937 Constitution for upholding private property as a sacred, 'natural right' and declaring that capitalism was 'something ordained by Providence forever, amen!'

[32] The official text of the Constitution consists of a Preamble, numbered Articles arranged under headings, and a final dedication (Irish: Dochum glóire Dé agus onóra na hÉireann "For the glory of God and the Honour of Ireland", from the Annals of the Four Masters[33]).

[45] For constitutional innovations — the President[46] and Seanad[47] — provision was made for their establishment within 180 days, and for the Oireachtas and Presidential Commission to function without them in the interim notwithstanding that they were otherwise essential.

[48] Article 51 expressly provides that it would cease to have legal effect once it was removed, but the rest remain in force, which has created subsequent inconvenience.

The associated Referendum Commission published the full transitory provisions for the information of voters, with a disclaimer that this did not constitute an "official" text.

Amendments are sometimes proposed to address a new social problem or phenomenon not considered at the time of the Constitution being drafted (e.g. children's rights, same-sex marriage), to address outmoded provisions in the Constitution (e.g. special position of the Roman Catholic Church, prohibition on abortion), or to attempt to reverse or alter an interpretation of the court through a corrective referendum (e.g. Oireachtas enquiries).

Once this new text has been signed by the Taoiseach, the Chief Justice and the President, it is enrolled on vellum and deposited with the office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court.

In Attorney General v X (1992), commonly known as the X Case, the Supreme Court ruled that the state must permit an abortion where there is a danger to her life, including a risk of suicide.

A Constitution on the United States model might well suit the people better than the present one; but the Irish are too innately Conservative ever to bring about such a change except by gradual and almost imperceptible degrees.

Nevertheless, the constitution still contains a number of explicit religious references, such as in the preamble, the declaration made by the President, and the remaining text of Article 44.1, which reads: The State acknowledges that the homage of public worship is due to Almighty God.

It shall hold His Name in reverence, and shall respect and honour religion.A number of ideas found in the Constitution reflect the Catholic social teachings when the original text was drafted.

Such teachings informed the provisions of the (non-binding) Directive Principles of Social Policy, as well as the system of vocational panels used to elect the Senate.

[58] Section 3(1) of the Act stipulated that: so long as Saorstát Éireann [i.e. the Irish Free State] is associated with the following nations, that is to say, Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and South Africa [i.e. the dominions then within the Commonwealth], and so long as the King recognised by those nations as the symbol of their co-operation continues to act on behalf of each of those nations (on the advice of the several Governments thereof) for the purposes of the appointment of diplomatic and consular representatives and the conclusion of international agreements, the King so recognised may, and is hereby authorised to, act on behalf of Saorstát Éireann for the like purposes as and when advised by the Executive Council so to do.

Article 41.1.1° of the Constitution "recognises the Family as the natural primary and fundamental unit group of Society, and as a moral institution possessing inalienable and imprescriptible rights, antecedent and superior to all positive law", and guarantees its protection by the state.

Civil society groups have articulated and mobilised for socio-economic rights in response to the state's handling of the 2008 crisis, particularly its nationalising of private banking debts and imposition of austerity.

Perhaps the most significant remaining discrepancy between the two texts of the Constitution is to be found in the subsection stipulating the minimum age for a candidate to be eligible for election as President (Art.