Taoiseach

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The Taoiseach (pronounced /ˈtiːʃəx/ in English[1] and IPA: [t̪ˠiːʃʲəx] (plural Taoisigh ([t̪ˠiːʃʲɪj] or [t̪ˠiːʃʲɪɟ]) in Irish), also referred to as An Taoiseach ([ən t̪ˠiːʃʲəx]),[2] is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland.

The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of Oireachtas), and must, while they remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil. The current Taoiseach is Bertie Ahern, TD, leader of the Fianna Fáil party. On 2 April 2008, he announced his intention to step down, as of 6 May 2008.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Under the Constitution of Ireland the Taoiseach must be appointed from among the members of Dáil Éireann. In the event that the Taoiseach loses the support of a majority in Dáil Éireann, he is not automatically removed from office but, rather, is compelled either to resign or to persuade the President to dissolve the Dáil. The President may refuse to grant a dissolution, and, in effect, force the Taoiseach to resign, but, to date, no president has exercised this prerogative (though the option arose in 1944, twice in 1982 and would have arisen in 1994 had Albert Reynolds chosen, following his Dáil defeat, to seek a dissolution rather than resign[citation needed]). The Taoiseach may lose the support of Dáil Éireann by the passage of a vote of no confidence, the failure of a vote of confidence or, alternatively, the Dáil may refuse supply.[3] In the event of the Taoiseach's resignation, he continues to exercise the duties and functions of his office until the appointment of a successor. See Phantom Taoiseach.

The Taoiseach nominates the remaining members of the Government, who are then, with the consent of the Dáil, appointed by the President. The Taoiseach also has authority to have fellow members of the cabinet dismissed from office. He or she is further responsible for appointing eleven members of the Senate.

[edit] Salary

The Taoiseach's salary[4] is considerably higher than for leaders in many other countries; €310,000 annually compared to £127,000 (~€180,000) for the British Prime Minister, $400,000 (~€280,000) for the President of the United States and €228,000 for the President of France. As of October 2007, the Taoiseach is the highest-paid head of government in the OECD countries.[5][6]

[edit] History

Department of the Taoiseach in Merrion Square, Dublin
Department of the Taoiseach in Merrion Square, Dublin

The words Taoiseach and Tánaiste (the title of the deputy prime minister) are both from the Irish language and of ancient origin. Though the Taoiseach is described in the Constitution of Ireland as "the head of the Government or Prime Minister",[7] its literal translation is "leader" or "chief". Some historians suggest that in ancient Ireland (where these terms originate), a taoiseach was a minor king, while a tánaiste was a governor placed in a kingdom whose king had been deposed or, more usually, his heir-apparent. In Scottish Gaelic, tòiseach translates as clan chief and both words originally had similar meaning in the Gaelic languages of Scotland and Ireland. The related Welsh language word tywysog (current meaning "prince" - from "tywys", to lead) appears to have had a similar meaning.

The modern position of Taoiseach was established by the 1937 Constitution of Ireland, to replace the position of President of the Executive Council of the 1922–1937 Irish Free State. The positions of Taoiseach and President of the Executive Council differed in certain fundamental respects. Under the Constitution of the Irish Free State the latter was vested with considerably less power and was largely just the cabinet's presiding officer. For example, the President of the Executive Council could not dismiss a fellow minister. The Free State's cabinet, the Executive Council had to be disbanded and reformed entirely, in order to remove one of its number. The President of the Executive Council could also not personally seek a dissolution of Dáil Éireann from the head of state, that power belonging collectively to the Executive Council. In contrast, the Taoiseach created in 1937 possesses a much more powerful role. He can both instruct the President to dismiss ministers, and request a parliamentary dissolution on his own initiative.[8]

Historically, where there have been multi-party or coalition Governments, the Taoiseach has come from the leader of the largest party in the coalition. One exception to this was John A. Costello, who was not leader of his party, but an agreed choice to head the government, because the other parties refused to accept then Fine Gael leader Richard Mulcahy as Taoiseach.

[edit] List of Taoisigh

Main articles: List of Irish heads of government since 1919, List of Taoisigh by important facts

# Name Entered Office Left Office Elected Period Party
1. Éamon de Valera 29 December 1937[9] 18 February 1948 3 terms 1st time Fianna Fáil
2. John A. Costello 18 February 1948 13 June 1951 1 term 1st time Fine Gael
Éamon de Valera 13 June 1951 2 June 1954 1 term 2nd time Fianna Fáil
John A. Costello 2 June 1954 20 March 1957 1 term 2nd time Fine Gael
Éamon de Valera 20 March 1957 23 June 1959 1 term 3rd time Fianna Fáil
3. Seán Lemass 23 June 1959 10 November 1966 3 terms Fianna Fáil
4. Jack Lynch 10 November 1966 14 March 1973 2 terms 1st time Fianna Fáil
5. Liam Cosgrave 14 March 1973 5 July 1977 1 term Fine Gael
Jack Lynch 5 July 1977 11 December 1979 1 term 2nd time Fianna Fáil
6. Charles Haughey 11 December 1979 30 June 1981 1 term 1st time Fianna Fáil
7. Garret FitzGerald 30 June 1981 9 March 1982 1 term 1st time Fine Gael
Charles Haughey 9 March 1982 14 December 1982 1 term 2nd time Fianna Fáil
Garret FitzGerald 14 December 1982 10 March 1987 1 term 2nd time Fine Gael
Charles Haughey 10 March 1987 11 February 1992 2 terms 3rd time Fianna Fáil
8. Albert Reynolds 11 February 1992 15 December 1994 1 term Fianna Fáil
9. John Bruton 15 December 1994 26 June 1997 1 term Fine Gael
10. Bertie Ahern June 26, 1997 Incumbent 3 terms Fianna Fáil

[edit] Living former Taoisigh

There have never been more than six former Taoisigh alive at any one time.[10]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ OED
  2. ^ Retaining the Irish definite article an /ən/ instead of English the.
  3. ^ One example of the Dáil refusing supply occurred in January 1982 when the then Fine Gael–Labour government of Garret FitzGerald lost a vote on the budget.
  4. ^ Taoiseach to receive €38k pay rise – RTÉ News, 25 October 2007.
  5. ^ The Sunday Times, 28 October 2007, p.5.
  6. ^ The office of Taoiseach does not come with an official residence as in the UK, the US and France.
  7. ^ Article 13.1.1° and Article 28.5.1°. The latter provision reads: "The head of the Government, or Prime Minister, shall be called, and is in this Constitution referred to as, the Taoiseach."
  8. ^ Among the most famous ministerial dismissals have been those of Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney during the Arms Crisis in 1970, Brian Lenihan in 1990 and Albert Reynolds, Pádraig Flynn and Máire Geoghegan-Quinn in 1991.
  9. ^ Éamon de Valera was head of the Irish government from 9 March 1932 to 29 December 1937 as President of the Executive Council (Prime Minister) under the Irish Free State constitution.
  10. ^ From 26 June 1997 to 20 October 1999, Jack Lynch, Liam Cosgrave, Charles Haughey, Garret FitzGerald, Albert Reynolds and John Bruton were living, from the time Bruton left office until the death of Lynch.

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

The book Chairman or Chief: The Role of the Taoiseach in Irish Government (1971) by Brian Farrell provides a good overview of the conflicting roles for the Taoiseach. Though long out of print, it may still be available in libraries or from AbeBooks. Biographies are also available of de Valera, Lemass, Lynch, Cosgrave, FitzGerald, Haughey, Reynolds and Ahern. FitzGerald wrote an autobiography, while an authorised biography was produced of de Valera.

Some Biographies of former Taoisigh & Presidents of the Executive Council:

  • Tim Pat Coogan, Éamon de Valera
  • John Horgan, Seán Lemass
  • Brian Farrell, Seán Lemass
  • T.P. O'Mahony, Jack Lynch: A Biography
  • T. Ryle Dwyer, Nice Fellow: A Biography of Jack Lynch
  • Stephen Collins, The Cosgrave legacy
  • Garret FitzGerald, All in a Life
  • Raymond Smith, Garret: The Enigma
  • T.Ryle Dwyer, Short Fellow: A Biography of Charles Haughey
  • Martin Mansergh, Spirit of the Nation: The Collected Speeches of Haughey
  • Joe Joyce & Peter Murtagh The Boss: Charles Haughey in Government
  • Tim Ryan, Albert Reynolds: The Longford Leader

[edit] External links


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