Taoiseach
From Free net encyclopedia
The TaoiseachTemplate:Ref (plural: Taoisigh) or, more formally, An Taoiseach, is the head of government of the Republic of Ireland and the leader of the Irish cabinet. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of parliament), and must, while he or she remains in office, enjoy the confidence of the Dáil. The current Taoiseach is Bertie Ahern, TD of the Fianna Fáil party.
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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 confidence of Dáil Éireann, he is not automatically removed from office but, rather, is compelled to either resign or 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). 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 Template:Ref. 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.
History
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", Template:Ref its literal translation is "leader" or "chief". Some historians suggest that in ancient Ireland (whence 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 Goidelic languages of Scotland and Ireland. The related Welsh language word Tywysog 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. Template:Ref
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.
List of Taoisigh
| Taoisigh of Ireland by 1st appointment |
|---|
| Image:Eamondv.jpg |
| Image:Costelloja.jpg |
| Image:Lemass.jpg |
| Image:Lynch.jpg |
| Image:Liamcosgrave.jpg |
| Image:Charles J. Haughey.jpg |
| Image:AlbertReynolds.jpg |
| Image:BrutonJohn.jpg |
| Image:Bahern.jpg |
Main articles: List of Irish heads of government since 1919, List of Taoisigh by important facts
| # | Name | Took Office | Left Office | Elected | Party | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Eamon de Valera (1st term of 3) | December 29, 1937 | February 18, 1948 | 4 terms | Fianna Fáil | ||||||||||
| 2. | John A. Costello (1st term of 2) | February 18, 1948 | June 13, 1951 | 1 term | Fine Gael | ||||||||||
| Eamon de Valera (2nd term of 3) | June 13, 1951 | June 2, 1954 | 1 term | Fianna Fáil | |||||||||||
| John A. Costello (2nd term of 2) | June 2, 1954 | March 20, 1957 | 1 term | Fine Gael | |||||||||||
| Eamon de Valera (3rd term of 3) | March 20, 1957 | June 23, 1959 | 1 term | Fianna Fáil | |||||||||||
| 3. | Seán F. Lemass | June 23, 1959 | November 10, 1966 | 1 term | Fianna Fáil | ||||||||||
| 4. | Jack Lynch (1st term of 2) | November 10, 1966 | March 14, 1973 | 2 terms | Fianna Fáil | ||||||||||
| 5. | Liam Cosgrave | March 14, 1973 | July 5, 1977 | 1 term | Fine Gael | ||||||||||
| Jack Lynch (2nd term of 2) | July 5, 1977 | December 11, 1979 | 1 term | Fianna Fáil | |||||||||||
| 6. | Charles J. Haughey (1st term of 3) | December 11, 1979 | June 30, 1981 | 1 term | Fianna Fáil | ||||||||||
| 7. | Garret FitzGerald | June 30, 1981 | March 9, 1982 | 1 term | Fine Gael | ||||||||||
| Charles J. Haughey (2nd term of 3) | March 9, 1982 | December 14, 1982 | 1 term | Fianna Fáil | |||||||||||
| Garret FitzGerald | December 14, 1982 | March 10, 1987 | 1 term | Fine Gael | |||||||||||
| Charles J. Haughey (3rd term of 3) | March 10, 1987 | February 11, 1992 | 2 terms | Fianna Fáil | |||||||||||
| 8. | Albert Reynolds | February 11, 1992 | December 15, 1994 | 1 term | Fianna Fáil | ||||||||||
| 9. | John Bruton | December 15, 1994 | June 26, 1997 | 1 term | Fine Gael | ||||||||||
| 10. | Bertie Ahern | June 26, 1997 | Current Incumbent | 2 terms | Fianna Fáil
</table> [edit] Living former TaoisighThere have never been more than six former Taoisigh alive at any one time. This has occurred only once: From June 26, 1997 to October 20, 1999, Jack Lynch, Liam Cosgrave, Garret FitzGerald, Charles Haughey, Albert Reynolds and John Bruton were living, from the time Bruton left office until the death of Lynch. [edit] Footnotes
[edit] See also
[edit] Further readingThe 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 An 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:
[edit] External links
cy:Taoiseach de:Taoiseach es:Taoiseach fr:Taoiseach ga:Taoiseach gd:Taoisigh na h-Éireann it:Capi del governo della Repubblica d'Irlanda nl:Taoiseach ja:アイルランドの首相 no:Taoiseach nn:Taoiseach pl:Taoiseach pt:Taoiseach scn:Capi dû cuvernu dâ Ripùbblica d'Irlanda fi:Taoiseach sv:Taoiseach zh:爱尔兰总理 |
