Article 53 & 55

Raphael

So I just finished reading the Abolition Bill (probably because I hate my brain), and there's one thing in it that I find a bit weird.

The last item in Schedule 3 Part 2 (p48 in this pdf is the Deletion of Article 53 and 55. However, the copy of the Constitution I was referencing against only has 50 Articles.

Dafuq?

echo beach

Well spotted. They aren't in my printed copy of the Constitution either. The Referendum Commission website has a copy of the before and after Constitution showing the proposed changes and it stops at Article 47. http://referendum2013.ie/Constitution_Before&After_Seanad.pdf

Raphael

I saw that alright - thought to myself "Ah, this'll explain everything" and went straight down to Article... 47. It also leaves out 50A, but that's not really important, since it just deals with the crossover.

Maybe there's some secret shadow articles that they only let you see once you've been elected, and they want to change those?

Raphael

So I had the solution pointed out to me on Facebook, it refers to Transitory Provisions which are supposed to be left out. Both from when the Seanad was created. http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Work_Of_The_Department/Protocol/Transitory%20Provisions%20of%20the%20Constitution%20of%20Ireland.pdf