Photo Chris Bellew / Copyright Fennell Photography
“One hundred years ago today, exactly a year after the signing of the Treaty, the Constitution of the Irish Free State came into effect following its endorsement by both Dáil Éireann and the British parliament in Westminster.
While it has perhaps not been considered in sufficient detail, in part due to the relatively short period of time before its replacement with our current Bunreacht na hÉireann in 1937, the 1922 Constitution is a founding document of our State and of the utmost historical importance.
The initiatives, including through my own Machnamh 100 series, which have taken place in recent weeks and months to mark the 1922 Constitution’s centenary, and the work of the Constitution Committee which preceded it, are therefore welcome contributions to our considerations of the period. In particular, the work of the National Archives to digitize the minutes, drafts, research and administrative material produced by the workings of the Constitution Committee will allow greater access to these important records for researchers over the coming years.
In marking the centenary, it is important to note however that the 1922 Constitution’s minimalism reflects an external influence that, in its time, had squandered opportunities for peace that continued from the refusal to accept the results of the 1918 election. Indeed, it is the likely reason why the records of the committee’s work, now digitized, were largely withheld from public view for fifty years.
Crucially, that external influence was responsible for the exclusion of democratic efforts at inclusion such as were represented in the Democratic Programme of the First Dáil. Then too during the parliamentary debates on the Constitution, Labour TDs such as Tom Johnson, himself the author of the Democratic Programme of the First Dáil, and T.J. O’Connell proposed the inclusion of modest welfare measures as well as provisions to protect children’s rights. These proposals met with opposition.
In relation to addressing issues of poverty and social inclusion, the 1922 Constitution would therefore have a further effect in stymying the opportunities for any radical innovative forms of administration that would have suited Irish circumstances in conditions of building statehood.
In remembering the coming into force of the 1922 Constitution in that December week a century ago, it is important that we also remember the context of the Civil War still raging at that time. Indeed, the following day pro-Treaty TD Seán Hales would be killed as he made his way to a sitting of the Dáil. One day later again, Government reprisals would see the execution of four anti-Treaty leaders in Rory O’Connor, Liam Mellows, Joe McKelvey and Richard Barrett.
It is important that in our consideration of the events of a century ago we consider all the facets of the period in their fullness, including issues such as land, social class and gender which have not received enough consideration over the decades.
The Machnamh 100 series of seminars, which have just completed and are available on the RTÉ Player and President.ie website, have sought to address all of these issues through an inclusive and diverse scholarship. All those with an interest are welcome to view the seminars as we continue to together build an inclusive picture of the past, and through it, a better and more sustainable future together.”
