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OireachtasNational Parliament of Ireland
Parliamentary Monuments and Citizenship Vol. 3
The Constitution contains the fundamentallaws and rules by which our political system isgoverned. It outlines our constitutional rightsas citizens. It was enacted by the people of Ire-land in 1937 and can only be changed by a ref-erendum of the people.
The Constitution outlines the function of theOireachtas. The Oireachtas consists of threedifferent bodies: The President, Seanad ireann(upper house), and Dil ireann (lower house).
We visited Leinster House which is the home ofDil ireann and Seanad ireann. We were re-ceived by two past pupils of our school, DerekNolan and Brian Walsh, who are now membersof the Dil.
Derek Nolan T.D.
Derek is a past pupil of St.Michaels School. He was aGalway City Councillor for
two years before he waselected to the Dil by the peo-
ple of Galway West in 2011.He sits on two committees
one of which is the Public Ac-counts Committee. He is a
member of the Labour Party.The Labour party forms acoalition government with
the Fine Gael party.
Brian Walsh T.D.
Brian is a past pupil of St.Michaels School. He wasa Galway City Councillorfor seven years, and Citymayor for one year beforehe was elected to the Dilby the people of GalwayWest in 1911. He sits on
the Committee of Trans-port and Communication.He is a member of the
Fine Gael Party. The FineGael party forms a coali-tion government with the
Labour party.
Our Day at the DilOnce we arrived at the Dil former pupilsfrom our school, Derek Nolan and BrianWalsh were waiting for us outside LeinsterHouse. We posed for pictures with them andthey brought us to the video room to talk tous. They told us about their time in St. Mi-chaels and their work as Dil Deputies. Afterthey were done talking, a bell rang indicatingthat a Dil vote would take place within sixminutes. So that meant that Derek and Brianhad to leave.
A guide then brought us around LeinsterHouse. We saw the chambers of the Dil and
the Seanad (Senate). We saw pictures of for-mer Taoisigh (leaders). We learned about theCeann Comhairle or speaker of the Dil. Afterall of that we were finished and we got backon the bus and went returned to Galway. Itwas a great tour.
Scott Rigny - Sixth Class
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Leinster HouseThe house was originally known as Kildare house
named after James Fitzgerald, the earl of Kildare,
who commissioned it to built between 1745-47. It
was designed by Richard Cassel, who was born in
Germany. On becoming the Duke of Leinster in
1776, the house was renamed Leinster House. The
third duke of Leinster, sold the mansion to the Royal
Dublin Society (RDS) for 10,000.
After the establishment of the Irish Free State in1922, the Government secured a part of Leinster
House for parliamentary use. The entire building was
acquired by the state in 1924. Today, Leinster House
is the seat of the two Houses of the Oireachtas, Dil
ireann and Seanad ireann.
Parliamentary
Monuments and Citizen-ship
Offices of the OireachtasTaoiseach: The Taoiseach or
Prime Minister is elected by
members of Dil ireann. He
then forms a government
that may last for 5 years.
Tnaiste: The Tnaiste or
Deputy Prime Minister is
appointed by the Presidenton advice from the Tao-
iseach.
Ceann Comhairle: The Ceann
Comhairle is the chairperson
or Speaker of Dil ireann.
He is elected by the members
of Dil ireann.
Dil ireannDil ireann is the primary legislative body of
the Oireachtas. It is made up of 166 directly
elected members who are called Dil Deputies
or TDs. Citizens ages 18 years and over may
vote. By law a general election to Dil ireann
must be held at least every 5 years. A TD may
be a member of a political party, or may be an
Independent. The main functions of Dil ire-
ann are to elect a Taoiseach, to hold the gov-
ernment to account, to approve spending of
public money and to enact new legislation.
Seanad ireannThe 60 members of Seanad ireann are not
directly elected by the public. They are
elected by select groups and 11 are nominated
by the Taoiseach. The main functions of the
Seanad are to debate, amend and pass laws.
The Seanad has limited powers of initiating
laws, but does not have the power to veto leg-
islation.
Dil Deputies take part in debates and make
representations on behalf of members of the
public, interest groups and their constituents.
In addition, TDs vote on legislation and ask
parliamentary questions.