Can the President....

G_R

hi guys,

i was just wondering if the following is possible

is it possible for the President to disolve the Dail if public opinion has turned against the government.

I know that she can disolve/refuse to disolve at the request of the taoiseach but what if (hypothetically) she recieved a million signatures on a petition, would she have any power to do anything?

Daftendirekt

Don't think so, no.

As far as I'm aware, the president can only dissolve the Dáil at the request of the Taoiseach. She can force the Taoiseach to step down by refusing to dissolve the Dáil at his request, but as far as I can tell, that's the extent of her power.

Which is unfortunate, because I think we definitely need a mechanism in place to call a general election before the government's term is up.

walrusgumble

Daftendirekt wrote: »

Don't think so, no.

As far as I'm aware, the president can only dissolve the Dáil at the request of the Taoiseach. She can force the Taoiseach to step down by refusing to dissolve the Dáil at his request, but as far as I can tell, that's the extent of her power.

Which is unfortunate, because I think we definitely need a mechanism in place to call a general election before the government's term is up.

can you see any of the oireachtas, bar maybe the likes of senator david norris or members with no way in hell chance of forming a government, ever agreeing to put that as a referendum bill to the people?

i would like to see it. but jesus, the civil servants and government ministers know more secrets about this country and the condition of the economy etc is in than the people will ever know. sometimes as you know really hard and unpopular laws and proposals have to be made, and sometimes things happen in the country that the government can't be blamed for. surely this would be a bit dangerous and unhelpful in the sense that the government would be even more concern about providing short term solutions to long term problems and provide more populist and reactionary laws on the whims of say a certain group of people (oh the irony, considering the rich are all the government listen to)

then again, a petition from about 1 million people is a clear indication of deep disatisfaction that could not possibly ignored.

walrusgumble

Daftendirekt wrote: »

Don't think so, no.

As far as I'm aware, the president can only dissolve the Dáil at the request of the Taoiseach. She can force the Taoiseach to step down by refusing to dissolve the Dáil at his request, but as far as I can tell, that's the extent of her power.

Which is unfortunate, because I think we definitely need a mechanism in place to call a general election before the government's term is up.

the constitution is reasonably clear on the mechanism to call a general election before the government term is up. remember that john bruton became taoiseach (fg/lab/dl government) without dail eireann having to go to the people for a mandate

G_R

Daftendirekt wrote: »

Don't think so, no.

As far as I'm aware, the president can only dissolve the Dáil at the request of the Taoiseach. She can force the Taoiseach to step down by refusing to dissolve the Dáil at his request, but as far as I can tell, that's the extent of her power.

Which is unfortunate, because I think we definitely need a mechanism in place to call a general election before the government's term is up.

ye i thought not. thanks

i agree tho, there should be a mechanism in place for calling a General Election before the end of the Governments term. What such a system should be`however i don't know.

drkpower

Daftendirekt wrote: »

Which is unfortunate, because I think we definitely need a mechanism in place to call a general election before the government's term is up.

There is a mechanism; parliament votes no confidence in the Gov.
Unfortunately there are no other options that I can think of that wont lead to more problems that they would solve.

Jim_Are_Great

Bunreacht na h&#201 wrote: »

2. 1° Dáil Éireann shall be summoned and dissolved by the President on the advice of the Taoiseach.

2° The President may in his absolute discretion refuse to dissolve Dáil Éireann on the advice of a Taoiseach who has ceased to retain the support of a majority in Dáil Éireann.

Yeah, so what they said ^^

Red Sleeping Beauty

Jim_Are_Great wrote: »

Yeah, so what they said ^^

But that assumes the president is a "he" :eek:


I think there's an unwritten rule that the president doesn't get involved.

AlekSmart

That all sounds great and full of positive sentiment,but Boards.ie does not a constituency make....:mad:

The reality is that unless we can find some mechanism to get our actual voter turnout up to non-embarrassing levels then this entire universan sufferage stuff is well and truly wasted on the native Irish.

The sad reality is that as a culture we`re not REALLY infused with wanting to be faced with making decisions...."hurler on the ditch" was never a more accurate descriptor of the native Irish physche.

Even now,after a week in which a well heeled and even better connected Developer along with his vastly expensive backup team effectively turned the entire field of Irish Legal jurisprudence on it`s head we hear little protest or even interest from the downtrodden hordes.....Beer,Crisps and Sky Sport are what will see Brian Cowen and his lads through !!! :eek: :eek: