Voters in the Republic were asked one question in the referendum on Friday May 22: Do you approve of the proposal to amend the Constitution contained in the undermentioned Bill? (The 19th Amendment of the Constitution Bill).
The 19th Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1998, proposed to insert the following section after section 6 of Article 29 of the Constitution: Section 7:
1. The State may consent to be bound by the British-Irish Agreement done at Belfast on the 10th day of April, 1998, hereinafter called the Agreement. 2. Any institution established by or under the Agreement may exercise the powers and functions thereby conferred on it in respect of all or any part of the island of Ireland notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution conferring a like power or function on any person or any organ of State appointed under or created or established by or under this Constitution. Any power or function conferred on such an institution in relation to the settlement or resolution of disputes or controversies may be in addition to or in substitution for any like power or function conferred by this Constitution on any such person or organ of State as aforesaid.
3. If the Government declare that the State has become obliged, pursuant to the Agreement, to give effect to the amendment of this Constitution referred to therein, then, notwithstanding Article 46 hereof, this Constitution shall be amended as follows:
(ii)
the following Articles shall be substituted for Articles 2 and 3 of the English text:
Article 2.
It is the entitlement and birthright of every person born in the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and seas, to be part of the Irish nation. That is also the entitlement of all persons otherwise qualified in accordance with law to be citizens of Ireland. Furthermore, the Irish nation cherishes its special affinity with people of Irish ancestry living abroad who share its cultural identity and heritage.
Article 3.
1. It is the firm will of the Irish nation, in harmony and friendship, to unite all the people who share the territory of the island of Ireland, in all the diversity of their identities and traditions, recognising that a united Ireland shall be brought about only by peaceful means with the consent of a majority of the people, democratically expressed, in both jurisdictions in the island. Until then, the laws enacted by the Parliament established by this Constitution shall have the like area and extent of application as the laws enacted by the Parliament that existed immediately before the coming into. operation of this Constitution.
2. Institutions with executive powers and functions that are shared between those jurisdictions may be established by their respective responsible authorities for stated purposes and may exercise powers and functions in respect of all or any part of the island. (iv)
The following section shall be added to the English text of this Article:
8. The State may exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction in accordance with the generally recognised principles of international law.',
4.
If a declaration under this section is made, this subsection and subsection 3, other than the amendment of this Constitution effected thereby, and subsection 5, of this section shall be omitted from every official text of this Constitution published thereafter, but notwithstanding such omission this section shall continue to have the force of law. 5. If such a declaration is not made within twelve months of this section being added to this Constitution or such longer period as may be provided for by law, this section shall cease to have effect and shall be omitted from every official text of this Constitution published thereafter.["].
Northern Ireland referendum
Voters in Northern Ireland were also asked one question. Do you support the agreement agreed in the multi-party talks on Northern Ireland and set out in Command Paper 3883? (Technical parliamentary term for the Belfast Agreement)
The text of the Belfast Agreement is available on The Irish Times on the Web (http://www.irish-times.com).