Office Of The Presidency Essay

The office of the Presidency consists, or is intended to consist, of two distinct functions. He/she is our non-executive head of state (although this is not specifically stated for historical reasons, but is implied) and the so-called “Guardian of the Constitution”. Our constitution advocates a tripartite separation of powers involving three organs of state ; The legislature, the executive and the judiciary. It is a prerequisite of any genuine democracy that the organs of governance must be independent in these specific areas to prevent the aggregation of power in any one area. Owing to the fact that the President in the ‘third limb’ of the Oireachtas he/she also commands a role in the system of the separation of powers that allegedly functions within the Oireachtas. Although the Presidential declaration necessitates the incumbent of the Presidential office to ‘maintain the constitution of Ireland’ and although Mr deValera envisaged that the duty of the President was ‘to guard the people’s rights and mainly to

However, Hogan states that “The only possible basis for describing the office as the protector of the Constitution —the infrequently-used machinery of article 26— is in fact arguably inimical to the upholding of constitutional values, since a Bill, once cleared under the Article 26 procedure and passing into law, can by Article 34.4.3° never again be challenged, even though conditions (including the climate of public and judicial opinion) may have changed.” This, in my opinion, indicates that one of the fundamental powers vested on the office of the Presidency falters in its endorsement of constitutional merits, taking from the effectiveness of the President’s role in the system of checks and balances that operates within the