The Gazette 1972

tion : Will the English ever learn ? Our past has demon- strated quite clearly that direct rule of all Ireland or part of it was doomed to failure and that the artificial situation created in part of Ulster has been a disaster. The Government of Ireland Act 1920—the so-called constitution of Northern Ireland—was admirably de- scribed by the late Mr. Justice Gavan-Duffy in Cogan v Minister for Finance (1941) I.R., as "A statutory abor- tion of December 1920 sardonically entitled 'An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland'." The only logical final step remaining, and one which the English have never tried, is to clear out of Ireland completely. It would be well-nigh impossible to devise any solution to the problems in the bix Counties but the type of Constitution which ought to be adopted by a united Ireland deserves consideration. I advocate a Federal Constitution with a Central Government and regional parliaments for the four provinces. I empha- sise the necessity for regional parliaments because of the special problems which exist in each of the provinces and because it would seem that if these problems are to be solved by anyone the best people to try to solve them are the people of the region with the aid and encour- agement of the Central Government An example of the problem is "the West"—a solution to which is most likely to be found by the people of that region with the co-operation of the central authority. These regional parliaments should consist of a single house. In a country of our size it would not be realistic to have two houses for each region. The Central Parliament should, however, contain two houses—a Dáil and a Senate. Undoubtedly a second house is valuable for delaying hasty legislation. The Dáil should be the more powerful assembly but the Senate of a united Ireland should have greater powers than our Senate, which, as it exists, is a sham and ought to be either revised or abolished. It should, as has been suggested, have a delaying power of at least a year, sit for the same length of time as the Dáil and have greater powers of amendment. A united Ireland Dáil I would envisage as consisting of 200 deputies elected on a basis of proportional represen- tation for a maximum of four years. To be eligible for election to the Dáil one should have attained eighteen years and in the case of the Senate thirty years. A united Ireland Senate should consist of 90 senators elected for a period of six years with a third retiring every two years. Of these 90—there should be two elected from each county on a proportional representation basis, six elected from the universities and twenty vocational seats of whom at least ten ought to be elected direct from the registered nominating bodies. There would be no need to draft a Bill of Rights for this new Constitution—what I suggested earlier in relation to the 1937 Constitution would be sufficient. The Supreme Court and High Court could retain their present roles but I would envisage the establishment of Regional Courts in the provinces to supersede the func- tions of the present County or Magistrates Courts and the Circuit and District Courts. The other large problem facing the Irish people at the moment is the possible advent of this country into the European Communities. While I am strongly opposed to E.E.C. entry, this paper is concerned with the Constitution and the E.E.C. and not the merits or demerits of entry. Implications of entering the European Community The Third Amendment to the Constitution Bill 1971 which was introduced to enable Ireland to join the three European Communities although short is open to criticism. It now permits the adoption of any law or 71

I believe that the insertion of such a declaration in a revised Constitution would be most beneficial. Human Rights Conventions should be ratified Dr. Hillery, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, speaking in the Dáil on 10th March 1971 is reported to have said that the establishment of full fundamental rights and freedoms for everyone, irrespective of religion or political opinion, was "a standard against which we should consciously measure our policies in relation eventually to the country as a whole, as well as to their performance in the twenty-six counties in the mean- time." These views are fully acceptable but why has the European Convention on Human Rights, which Mr. Seán MacBride described at a recent meeting of this Society as "a cornerstone of our civilization even more important than Magna Carta, the American Declaration °f Independence, or the French Declaration of the Rights of Man" never been made part of our municipal law? The Chief Justice the Hon. Cearbhaill Ó Dálaigh has suggested that personal rights in Ireland might be more clearly stated and in some important fields exten- ded if we were to make this Convention and several of the United Nations Conventions part of our municipal law. The United Nations Conventions referred to are the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Cove- nant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Mr. Seán MacBride has said that "our failure to ratify Human Rights Conventions and to participate actively m the United Nations on Human Rights issues has put mto question our sincerity when we profess loudly our at tachment to the ideals of human liberty—and when appeal to that organisation to intervene to protect Hvil liberties in Northern Ireland." He continued: "Is the feet dragging which is so evident in our behaviour ? n human rights issues due to a deliberate policy or is Jt due to sheer negligence? These are questions which m ust be answered." Prohibition of divorce an infringement of religious liberty . It is felt that the problem of religious liberty, which I s extremely important in the Irish context, cannot be ignored. The Vatican II Declaration on Religious Liberty declared that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups a nd of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, or whether alone 0 r in association with others within due limits. It is submitted that the prohibition on divorce in our Consti- tution is forcing people in this country to act contrary to their beliefs and is an infringement of their right to toligious liberty. One cannot just argue "that civil divorce is evil and one cannot have a right to what is ^ d " and say that is the end of the matter. The pro- ponents of divorce do not believe the basic premise that divorce is evil. Undoubtedly fundamental rights must be protected b y effective procedural measures. Judicial review of le gislation is essential in this regard and must be re- f i ned more especially in a united Ireland. A Constitution for a United Ireland Recent events .such as the burials which were taking Place of the thirteen civilians who were murdered in e r r y on Sunday, January 30th, have influenced this Part of the paper. That Sunday was another black day l n Anglo-Irish relations and one may well ask the ques-