Irish President

Howlin

The President cannot veto a bill that the Dáil and the Seanad have adopted. It must be signed, unless referred to the Supreme Court or the people
Can anyone tell me what refer to the people means? do it mean there has to be a vote on it or what?

FreudianSlippers

Probably the wrong forum for this.

But anyway, this is why the President's job is so important. She considers the bill passed by the Oireachtas in regards to its constitutionality.
If she feels that it is ultra vires the powers of the Oireachtas to pass this bill and/or it is contrary to our Constitution it can be vetoed.
Otherwise, a referendum can be put to the people to amend the Constitution so that this new bill falls in line with the "updated" Constitution.
A very good concept in theory, but it means that our Constitution gets ebbs and flows and is kind of mangled while one popular mentality is in power (ie anti-gay, anti-abortion, etc)

FreudianSlippers

BTW the President doesn't decide on the unconstitutionality herself, she sends the matter to the Supreme Court in what is called "In Re Article 26".
The full sitting of the Supreme Court then considers its constitutionality and makes the declaration.

So called because this power of the President is enshrined in Article 26 of the Constitution

oscarBravo

Moved from the EU subforum.