Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland

For the Irish Free State constitutional amendment, see Constitution (Amendment No. 11) Act 1929.

Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
18 June 1992 (1992-06-18)
To permit the state to ratify the Maastricht Treaty
Results
Choice
 Votes %
Yes 1,001,076 69.05%
No 448,655 30.95%
Valid votes 1,449,731 99.49%
Invalid or blank votes 7,488 0.51%
Total votes 1,457,219 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 2,542,840 57.31%

The Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution Act 1992 (previously bill no. 12 of 1992) is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which permitted the state to ratify the Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty. It was approved by referendum on 18 June 1992 and signed into law on 16 July of the same year.

Overview

Posters against the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty. Dublin, Ireland (1992).

The Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution was one of a number of amendments that have been made to expressly permit the state to ratify changes to the founding treaties of the European Union (then known as the European Community) (others have been the Tenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-sixth and the Twenty-eighth Amendments). These amendments were all adopted because of the finding of the Supreme Court in Crotty v. An Taoiseach (1987) that major changes to the treaties are unconstitutional unless accompanied by an amendment.

The Eleventh Amendment was introduced by a Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats coalition government and was also supported by opposition parties Fine Gael and the Labour Party. Democratic Left and the Green Party were opposed to it. Some anti-abortion groups also opposed the treaty, arguing that it might lead to legalised abortion in Ireland.

Changes to the text

The Eleventh Amendment amended Article 29.4 by the deletion of the highlighted sentence from subsection 3°:

3° The State may become a member of the European Coal and Steel Community (established by Treaty signed at Paris on the 18th day of April, 1951), the European Economic Community (established by Treaty signed at Rome on the 25th day of March, 1957) and the European Atomic Energy Community (established by Treaty signed at Rome on the 25th day of March, 1957). The State may ratify the Single European Act (signed on behalf of the Member States of the Communities at Luxembourg on the 17th day of February, 1986, and at The Hague on the 28th day of February, 1986). No provision of this Constitution invalidates laws enacted, acts done or measures adopted by the State necessitated by the obligations of membership of the Communities, or prevents laws enacted, acts done or measures adopted by the Communities, or institutions thereof, from having the force of law in the State.

and by the addition of the following subsections:

4° The State may ratify the Treaty on European Union signed at Maastricht on the 7th day of February, 1992, and may become a member of that Union.

5° No provision of this Constitution invalidates laws enacted, acts done or measures adopted by the State which are necessitated by the obligations of membership of the European Union or of the Communities, or prevents laws enacted, acts done or measures adopted by the European Union or by the Communities or by institutions thereof, or by bodies competent under the Treaties establishing the Communities, from having the force of law in the State.

6° The State may ratify the Agreement relating to Community Patents drawn up between the Member States of the Communities and done at Luxembourg on the 15th day of December, 1989.

Result

Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland referendum[1]
Choice Votes %
Referendum passed Yes 1,001,076 69.05
No 448,655 30.95
Valid votes 1,449,731 99.49
Invalid or blank votes 7,488 0.51
Total votes 1,457,219 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 2,542,840 57.31
Results by constituency[1]
Constituency Electorate Turnout (%) Votes Proportion of votes
Yes No Yes No
Carlow–Kilkenny 81,192 59.2% 34,180 13,633 71.5% 28.5%
Cavan–Monaghan 79,004 52.7% 28,916 12,382 70.1% 29.9%
Clare 67,558 53.9% 26,984 9,264 74.5% 25.5%
Cork East 58,159 61.5% 24,738 10,863 69.5% 30.5%
Cork North-Central 64,497 57.7% 24,285 12,800 65.5% 34.5%
Cork North-West 42,058 62.9% 18,481 7,773 70.4% 29.6%
Cork South-Central 82,853 62.9% 36,653 15,218 70.7% 29.3%
Cork South-West 43,753 61.0% 18,689 7,846 70.5% 29.5%
Donegal North-East 46,934 50.9% 14,063 9,737 59.1% 40.9%
Donegal South-West 48,494 48.8% 13,724 9,837 58.3% 41.7%
Dublin Central 63,411 56.6% 21,216 14,488 59.5% 40.5%
Dublin North 56,412 59.2% 24,488 8,789 73.6% 26.4%
Dublin North-Central 55,376 65.3% 23,526 12,524 65.3% 34.7%
Dublin North-East 55,024 61.5% 21,469 12,238 63.7% 36.3%
Dublin North-West 47,937 57.8% 15,642 11,874 56.9% 43.1%
Dublin South 87,322 63.0% 40,569 14,267 74.0% 26.0%
Dublin South-Central 71,052 57.8% 25,718 15,140 63.0% 37.0%
Dublin South-East 60,630 54.2% 21,603 11,061 66.2% 33.8%
Dublin South-West 69,654 54.9% 24,847 13,250 65.3% 34.7%
Dublin West 82,641 55.9% 30,236 15,861 65.6% 34.4%
Dún Laoghaire 83,369 62.3% 38,396 13,362 74.2% 25.8%
Galway East 43,219 53.9% 17,306 5,780 75.0% 25.0%
Galway West 81,292 50.7% 27,669 13,340 67.5% 32.5%
Kerry North 48,606 52.5% 16,313 9,006 64.5% 35.5%
Kerry South 44,034 52.9% 15,495 7,633 67.0% 33.0%
Kildare 85,073 55.0% 34,314 12,275 73.7% 26.3%
Laois–Offaly 77,226 58.5% 30,409 14,470 67.8% 32.2%
Limerick East 69,025 58.5% 29,059 11,134 72.3% 27.7%
Limerick West 44,768 57.2% 18,241 7,152 71.9% 28.1%
Longford–Westmeath 64,098 56.3% 26,486 9,364 73.9% 26.1%
Louth 65,666 58.9% 26,925 11,446 70.2% 29.8%
Mayo East 40,336 52.4% 15,603 5,434 74.2% 25.8%
Mayo West 40,654 53.0% 16,076 5,424 74.8% 25.2%
Meath 82,133 56.1% 32,608 13,204 71.2% 28.8%
Roscommon 40,690 59.4% 17,242 6,755 71.9% 28.1%
Sligo–Leitrim 60,675 55.3% 23,826 9,461 71.6% 28.4%
Tipperary North 42,633 60.0% 17,052 8,343 67.2% 32.8%
Tipperary South 56,705 60.2% 22,810 11,148 67.2% 32.8%
Waterford 63,692 58.0% 26,923 9,850 73.3% 26.7%
Wexford 75,553 57.0% 30,347 12,491 70.9% 29.1%
Wicklow 69,432 58.9% 27,949 12,738 68.7% 31.3%
Total 2,542,840 57.3% 1,001,076 448,655 69.1% 30.9%

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Referendum Results 1937–2015" (PDF). Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. 23 August 2016. p. 44. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 December 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2018.