Many people describe Ireland as a democratic “Sovereign” Nation. However sovereignty is only a concept, and is nothing more than the right of a people to choose their government and determine the “laws” by which they are governed. If a government limits the free exercise of those democratic rights or fails to provide a mechanism by which the people can exercise those democratic rights then the people cannot be described as “Sovereign”.
Article 6 of the Irish Constitution proclaims:
…….. All powers of government, legislative, executive and judicial, derive, under God, from the people, whose right it is to designate the rulers of the State ….. and in final appeal, to decide all questions of national policy, according to the requirements of the common good.…….
Ignore for a moment the religious bias;
- the first part of that article “to designate the rulers of the State” is satisfied by the holding of general elections every few years,
- the second part “to decide all questions of national policy, according to the requirements of the common good” cannot be exercised as there is no mechanism by which the people can exercise that right.
We did have a provision in the 1922 (Free State) constitution, (article 48) but that was removed by the first “Free State” government, and despite much talk and many citizens conventions, no provision has ever been made to restore the “Citizens Initiative”.
indeed the ability of the people to challenge any Law Act or Measure as being unconstitutional was removed when we joined the E.E.C. by the amendment of article 29 section 4 subsection 6 of our constitution in 1972 which provided:
“…. No provision of this Constitution invalidates laws enacted, acts done or measures adopted by the State necessitated by the obligations of membership of the Communities or prevents laws enacted, acts done or measures adopted by the Communities, or institutions thereof, from having the force of law in the State……..”
If we wish to restore and retain our status as a Democratic Nation / State, than we must restore the right of the people to instruct the government as to their wishes on matters of vital national importance. We can achieve that by amending the constitution to include a provision for a Citizens Initiative, similar to the old article 48 of the 1922 constitution.