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Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland

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The Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution (Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union) Act 2012 (previously bill no. 23 of 2012) amended the Constitution of Ireland to permit Ireland to ratify the 2012 European Fiscal Compact and to preclude measures taken under the Compact from being held to be inconsistent with the Irish constitution. It was approved by referendum on 31 May 2012, by 60.3% to 39.7%, on a turnout of 50% and was signed into law by President Michael D. Higgins on 27 June 2012.[1]

Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
31 May 2012 (2012-05-31)
To permit the state to ratify the European Fiscal Compact
Results
Choice
 Votes %
Yes 955,091 60.37%
No 626,907 39.63%
Valid votes 1,581,998 99.55%
Invalid or blank votes 7,206 0.45%
Total votes 1,589,204 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 3,144,828 50.53%

Result

  Yes (60.3%)
  No (39.7%)

The decision to hold a referendum on the Fiscal Compact was made by the Irish government following advice from the Attorney General, and was announced by Taoiseach Enda Kenny on 28 February 2012 prior to the signing ceremony.[2]

Change to the text

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The following subsection was added to Article 29.4:

10° The State may ratify the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union done at Brussels on the 2nd day of March 2012. No provision of this Constitution invalidates laws enacted, acts done or measures adopted by the State that are necessitated by the obligations of the State under that Treaty or prevents laws enacted, acts done or measures adopted by bodies competent under that Treaty from having the force of law in the State.

Oireachtas debate

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The Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution (Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union) Bill was proposed in Dáil Éireann by Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore on 18 April 2012. It passed final stage in the Dáil on 20 April and final stages in Seanad Éireann on 24 April.

High Court challenge

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In May 2012, Independent TD Thomas Pringle brought a High Court challenge to the Irish European Fiscal Compact referendum. He asked the High Court to check the legality of the referendum as the fiscal treaty is intertwined with the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) treaty and an amendment to another treaty.[3]

Referendum campaign

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Referendum campaign posters in Dublin

Proponents

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On 27 May, Taoiseach Enda Kenny appealed to voters to support the referendum in order to contribute to a recovery from Ireland's financial crisis. "This treaty strengthens the economic and budgetary rules that apply to countries like Ireland that use the euro. It will create stability in the euro zone that is essential for growth and job creation. A strong yes vote will create the certainty and stability that our country needs to continue on the road to economic recovery."[4]

Opponents

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The No Campaign referred to it as the Austerity Treaty.[5] Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams promising to lead a "strong anti-treaty campaign" to stop what he described as a pact that would worsen the Irish government's "terrible policy of austerity."[2] Independent TD Shane Ross called for the Irish people to reject the treaty as "the only way to stop a process that would end in Ireland's surrender of economic decision-making."[2] The United Left Alliance also campaigned for a No vote in the 2012 European Fiscal Compact referendum.[6]

On 29 February 2012, Éamon Ó Cuív resigned as Fianna Fáil's Deputy leader and Communications spokesperson due to dissatisfaction with his party's position on the referendum.[7] He vowed to vote against the treaty and said "joining a badly designed monetary union had cost Ireland... the people of Europe do not agree that there is only one way forward." Fianna Fáil party whip Seán Ó Fearghaíl then sent Ó Cuív a letter which put a gag on him during the referendum campaign for speaking out of turn and expressing his own opinion against the party's wishes.[8]

Debates

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TV3 hosted the first live televised debate concerning the European Fiscal Compact referendum. It was an hour-long debate, hosted by Vincent Browne, and airing on 1 May at 21:00. Sinn Féin deputy president Mary Lou McDonald and Joe Higgins of the Socialist Party put the case for a No vote, and while Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and agriculture minister Simon Coveney of Fine Gael called on viewers to vote Yes. Taoiseach Enda Kenny refused to participate in the debate, citing comments made previously by the host.[9] Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore also declined to join the debate.

Lucinda Creighton and Clare Daly appeared on Prime Time while the TV3 debate was happening.[10]

A debate held on The Frontline on 21 May 2012 descended into chaos. Celebrity "Dragon" Norah Casey and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore represented "Yes", while Declan Ganley and Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald represented "No". At one stage presenter Pat Kenny shouted down a farmer in the audience who was advocating a No vote.[11]

A 45-minute debate, this time "strictly marshalled" by Richard Crowley, was held on Prime Time on 29 May 2012. Fianna Fáil director of elections Timmy Dooley and Labour's Joan Burton represented "Yes", while the Socialist Party's Clare Daly and Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald represented "No". Following Richard Bruton's gaffe on live radio (see below), Joan Burton declined repeated attempts to have her say whether Labour would agree to a second referendum in the event of the "No" side prevailing.[12]

Notable moments

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On 19 April 2012, the government launched a website offering information about the treaty.[13] Having claimed that this was a neutral source of information, the government came under pressure to remove some content from the site which explicitly called for a Yes vote.[14] When questioned why, in light of the ruling in the Patricia McKenna case that it was unconstitutional for the government to spend public money to promote one side of a referendum debate, the government was launching a website which contained partisan material, Minister Leo Varadkar replied that as they had launched the website before moving the writ to formally call the referendum, the ruling did not apply.[15] The government was also criticised for diverting millions of euro to fund this website and related leaflet drop from the budget of the Referendum Commission whose role it is to provide unbiased information on referendums in Ireland.[16]

On 16 May, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan caused controversy with a comment of Greek "holidays" and "feta cheese" at a breakfast briefing with Bloomberg news agency. Noonan said these were the only links between Ireland and Greece.[17][18][19]

On 17 May, Taoiseach Enda Kenny was heckled and booed by opponents of the compact in Galway as he attended a breakfast briefing.[20] Later that day, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton let slip on radio the possibility of there being a second referendum if the Irish people voted "No".[21]

Opinion polls

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Date Source Polling agency Sample size For Against Undecided
26 May 2012[22] The Irish Times Ipsos MRBI 1,000 39% 30% 22%
17 May 2012[23] Irish Independent Millward Brown Lansdowne 1,000 37% 24% 35% (plus 4% 'will not vote')
13 May 2012[24] The Sunday Business Post RED C 1,000 53% 31% 16%
29 April 2012[25] The Sunday Business Post RED C 1,000 47% 35% 18%
22 April 2012[26] The Sunday Times Behaviour and Attitudes 946 42% 27% 31%
19 April 2012[27] The Irish Times Ipsos MRBI 1,000 30% 23% 39% (plus 8% 'will not vote')
25 March 2012[28] The Sunday Business Post RED C 1,000 49% 33% 18%
4 March 2012[29] The Sunday Business Post RED C 1,000 44% 29% 26%
4 March 2012[30] Sunday Independent Millward Brown Lansdowne ? 37% 26% 15% (plus 21% 'depends')
29 January 2012[31] The Sunday Business Post RED C ? 40% 36% 24%

Result

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How the electorate voted, by constituency. Proportion of the valid poll voting yes:
  69%–76%
  64%–68.99%
  57%–63.99%
  50%–56.99%
  43%–49.99%
Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2011[32]
Choice Votes %
  Yes 955,091 60.37
No 626,907 39.63
Valid votes 1,581,998 99.55
Invalid or blank votes 7,206 0.45
Total votes 1,589,204 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 3,144,828 50.53
Results by constituency[32]
Constituency Electorate Turnout (%) Votes Proportion of votes
Yes No Yes No
Carlow–Kilkenny 102,643 51.0% 32,920 19,098 63.3% 36.7%
Cavan–Monaghan 97,803 48.8% 27,296 20,106 57.6% 42.4%
Clare 80,102 49.8% 26,121 13,616 65.7% 34.3%
Cork East 81,692 46.5% 24,212 13,616 64.0% 36.0%
Cork North-Central 74,257 51.5% 19,798 18,275 52.0% 48.0%
Cork North-West 61,672 51.9% 20,894 10,961 65.6% 34.4%
Cork South-Central 89,844 53.5% 29,730 18,090 62.2% 37.8%
Cork South-West 59,852 51.5% 20,350 10,360 66.3% 33.7%
Donegal North-East 58,387 42.6% 10,975 13,758 44.4% 55.6%
Donegal South-West 63,127 41.9% 11,862 14,466 45.1% 54.9%
Dublin Central 55,092 48.3% 14,183 12,312 53.5% 46.5%
Dublin Mid-West 64,445 51.6% 16,590 16,585 50.0% 50.0%
Dublin North 69,533 52.9% 22,153 14,507 60.4% 39.6%
Dublin North-Central 52,799 58.8% 19,250 11,660 62.3% 37.7%
Dublin North-East 57,175 57.2% 18,890 13,679 58.0% 42.0%
Dublin North-West 48,352 51.9% 11,682 13,302 46.8% 53.2%
Dublin South 101,451 57.1% 43,735 13,931 75.8% 24.2%
Dublin South-Central 77,869 51.7% 19,706 20,428 49.1% 50.9%
Dublin South-East 56,037 48.8% 19,682 7,539 72.3% 27.7%
Dublin South-West 69,872 51.0% 17,531 18,028 49.3% 50.7%
Dublin West 61,762 51.7% 18,503 13,300 58.2% 41.8%
Dún Laoghaire 78,655 57.2% 33,242 11,554 74.2% 25.8%
Galway East 81,587 46.8% 24,015 13,955 63.2% 36.8%
Galway West 87,456 48.2% 24,282 17,645 57.9% 42.1%
Kerry North–West Limerick 62,271 47.2% 17,800 11,403 61.0% 39.0%
Kerry South 57,146 48.3% 17,727 9,685 64.7% 35.3%
Kildare North 75,513 51.2% 25,169 13,384 65.3% 34.7%
Kildare South 57,790 49.6% 16,678 11,902 58.4% 41.6%
Laois–Offaly 106,297 48.6% 30,655 20,741 59.6% 40.4%
Limerick 64,419 48.3% 20,459 10,491 66.1% 33.9%
Limerick City 64,241 48.8% 18,933 12,262 60.7% 39.3%
Longford–Westmeath 85,159 46.7% 23,886 15,723 60.3% 39.7%
Louth 99,008 52.2% 27,114 24,289 52.7% 47.3%
Mayo 96,158 47.8% 30,738 14,977 67.2% 32.8%
Meath East 64,178 49.0% 19,613 11,697 62.6% 37.4%
Meath West 62,232 47.6% 16,661 12,785 56.6% 43.4%
Roscommon–South Leitrim 59,020 52.0% 18,562 11,991 60.8% 39.2%
Sligo–North Leitrim 61,892 48.0% 17,828 11,728 60.3% 39.7%
Tipperary North 62,044 54.0% 21,819 11,454 65.6% 34.4%
Tipperary South 55,717 53.0% 17,797 11,546 60.7% 39.3%
Waterford 76,993 51.1% 22,585 16,585 57.7% 42.3%
Wexford 110,302 48.9% 31,039 22,654 57.8% 42.2%
Wicklow 92,984 57.5% 32,426 20,839 60.9% 39.1%
Total 3,144,828 50.5% 955,091 626,907 60.4% 39.6%

References

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  1. ^ "Legislation Signed by President Higgins". Official website. Office of the President. 27 June 2012. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "Ireland to hold referendum on European fiscal pact". Newsday. 27 February 2012.
  3. ^ "Independent TD takes legal action over EU treaties". The Irish Times. Irish Times Trust. 17 May 2012. Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  4. ^ "Taoiseach makes final pitch to voters". The Irish Times. 27 May 2012. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  5. ^ "Referendum 2012: Fiscal Treaty Guide". RTÉ News. 5 May 2012. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012.
  6. ^ "United Left Alliance says pro-treaty parties 'cannot be trusted'". RTÉ News. 9 May 2012. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  7. ^ Sheahan, Fionnan; Kelly, Fiach (29 February 2012). "O Cuiv steps down as FF Deputy leader over EU treaty". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  8. ^ "O Cuiv say he will remain in Fianna Fáil". BBC News. 8 May 2012. Archived from the original on 4 January 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  9. ^ "TV3 confirms line-up for Vincent Browne's referendum debate". The Journal. 30 April 2012. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  10. ^ "AS IT HAPPENED: The Europe Debate with Vincent Browne on TV3". The Journal. 1 May 2012. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  11. ^ McGee, Harry (22 May 2012). "Sharp exchanges and accusations in TV debate". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 3 March 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  12. ^ McGee, Harry (30 May 2012). "Burton avoids backing of second referendum". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  13. ^ "Government launches Stabilitytreaty.ie". The Business Post. 19 April 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  14. ^ "Government forced to remove 'yes' vote speeches from website". The Irish Independent. 26 April 2012. Archived from the original on 28 April 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  15. ^ "Vincent Browne destroys Leo Varadkar". Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  16. ^ Moriarty, Gerry; De Bréadún, Deaglán; Wall, Martin (20 April 2012). "Kenny says ratifying treaty in Ireland's interest". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  17. ^ Wall, Amy (18 May 2012). "Michael Noonan accused of being "ignorant" over remarks about Greece". JOE.ie. Archived from the original on 21 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  18. ^ O'Doherty, Michael (17 May 2012). "Let's thank the Greeks bearing gift of Georgia". Evening Herald. Independent News & Media. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  19. ^ Telford, Lyndsey (16 May 2012). "Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore stands firm on our corporation tax rate". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  20. ^ Crawford, Caroline; Keogh, Elaine (18 May 2012). "Kenny accuses protesters of bullying and intimidation". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  21. ^ "Bruton raises prospect of second treaty referendum". Irish Examiner. Thomas Crosbie Holdings. 17 May 2012. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  22. ^ "Undecided come off the fence". The Irish Times. 26 May 2012. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  23. ^ "Undecided voters hold key to treaty outcome - poll". RTÉ News. 17 May 2012. Archived from the original on 20 May 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  24. ^ "Poll shows big rise in support for fiscal treaty Yes vote". RTÉ News. 12 May 2012. Archived from the original on 13 May 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  25. ^ "Poll shows slight increase in EU Fiscal Treaty opponents". RTÉ News. 28 April 2012. Archived from the original on 29 April 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  26. ^ "Poll indicates 55% of voters do not understand European Union Fiscal Treaty". RTÉ News. 21 April 2012. Archived from the original on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  27. ^ "Poll shows 40% of voters have yet to decide how to vote on Fiscal Treaty referendum". RTÉ News. 19 April 2012. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  28. ^ "Poll shows support for EU Fiscal Treaty". RTÉ News. 24 March 2012. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  29. ^ "Poll shows support for Yes vote". The Irish Times. 3 March 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  30. ^ "Two opinion polls suggest support for treaty". RTÉ News. 3 March 2012. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  31. ^ "Poll shows support for Treaty referendum". RTÉ News. 30 January 2012. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  32. ^ a b "Referendum Results 1937–2015" (PDF). Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. 23 August 2016. p. 85. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 December 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
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Official sites
News overviews
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