POBLACHT NA H EIREANN, THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE IRISH REPUBLIC TO THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND

IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN: In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom.

Having organised and trained her manhood through her secret revolutionary organisation, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and through her open military organisations, the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army, having patiently perfected her discipline, having resolutely waited for the right moment to reveal itself, she now seizes that moment, and, supported by her exiled children in America and by gallant allies in Europe, but relying in the first on her own strength, she strikes in full confidence of victory.

We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible. The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the right, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people. In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty; six times during the past three hundred years they have asserted it in arms. Standing on that fundamental right and again asserting it in arms in the face of the world, we hereby proclaim the Irish Republic as a Sovereign Independent State, and we pledge our lives and the lives of our comrades-in-arms to the cause of its freedom, of its welfare, and of its exaltation among the nations.

The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and Irishwoman. The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.

Until our arms have brought the opportune moment for the establishment of a permanent National Government representative of the whole people of Ireland and elected by the suffrages of all her men and women, the Provisional Government, hereby constituted, will administer the civil and military affairs of the Republic in trust for the people.

We place the cause of the Irish Republic under the protection of the Most High God. Whose blessing we invoke upon our arms, and we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonour it by cowardice, inhumanity, or rapine. In this supreme hour the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline and by the readiness of its children to sacrifice themselves for the common good, prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which it is called.

Signed on Behalf of the Provisional Government.

Thomas J. Clarke, Sean Mac Diarmada, Thomas MacDonagh, P. H. Pearse, Eamonn Ceannt, James Connolly, Joseph Plunkett

MENDING ACTS

SHORT TITLE

DATE OF SIGNATURE

First Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1939 [Extended to conflicts in which the State is not a participant the provision for a state of emergency to secure the public safety and preservation of the State in time of war or armed rebellion.]

2 September, 1939

Second Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1941 [An omnibus proposal, covering a range of disparate Articles, aimed at tidying up the Constitution in the light of experience since its enactment.]

30 May, 1941

Third Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1972 [Allowed the State to become a member of the European Communities.]

8 June, 1972

Fourth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1972 [Reduced the minimum voting age at Dáil and Presidential elections and referendums from 21 years to 18 years.]

5 January, 1973

Fifth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1972 [Removed from the Constitution the special position of the Catholic Church and the recognition of other named religious denominations.]

5 January, 1973

Sixth Amendment of the Constitution (Adoption) Act, 1979 [Ensured that adoption orders made by the Adoption Board could not be declared invalid because they were not made by a court.]

3 August, 1979

Seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Election of Members of Seanad Éireann by Institutions of Higher Education) Act, 1979 [Allowed the State to extend the provisions for the election of members of Seanad Éireann by certain universities to other institutions of higher education in the State.]

3 August, 1979

Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1983 [Acknowledged the right to life of the unborn, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother.]

7 October, 1983

Ninth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1984 [Extended the right to vote at Dáil elections to certain non-Irish nationals.]

2 August, 1984

Tenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1987 [Allowed the State to ratify the Single European Act.]

22 June, 1987

Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1992 [Allowed the State to ratify the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht) and to become a member of that union.]

16 July, 1992

There is no Twelfth Amendment. On 25 November 1992, three proposals were put to the people, the Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. The people rejected the Twelfth (which dealt with the right to life of the unborn) and approved the Thirteenth and Fourteenth (below).



Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1992 [Provided that Article 40.3.3° (the right to life of the unborn) would not limit freedom to travel between Ireland and another state.]

23 December, 1992

Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1992 [Provided that Article 40.3.3° (the right to life of the unborn) would not limit freedom to obtain or make available information relating to services lawfully available in another state.]

23 December, 1992

Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1995 [Provided for the dissolution of marriage in certain specified circumstances.]

17 June, 1996

Sixteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1996 [Provided for the refusal of bail by a court to a person charged with a serious offence where it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent the commission of a serious offence by that person.]

12 December, 1996

Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1997 [Provided that the confidentiality of discussions at meetings of the Government would be respected save only where the High Court, in certain specified circumstances, determined that disclosure should be made.]

14 November, 1997

Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1998 [Allowed the State to ratify the Treaty of Amsterdam.]

3 June, 1998

Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1998 [Allowed the State to consent to be bound by the Britishirish Agreement done at Belfast on 10 April 1998 and provided that certain further amendments to the Constitution, notably to Articles 2 and 3, would come into effect when that agreement entered into force.]

3 June, 1998

Twentieth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1999 [Provided constitutional recognition of the role of local government and that local elections are held at least every five years.]

23 June, 1999

Twenty-first Amendment of the Constitution Act, 2001 [Prohibited the death penalty and provided for the removal of references to the death penalty.]

27 March, 2002

There is no Twenty-second Amendment. The Twenty-second Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 2001 [relating to the removal of a judge from office and providing for a body to be established by law to investigate or cause to be investigated conduct constituting misbehaviour by a judge or affected by incapacity of a judge] was not passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas.



Twenty-third Amendment of the Constitution Act, 2001 [Allowed the State to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.]

27 March, 2002

There is no Twenty-fourth Amendment. On 7 June, 2001, three proposals were put to the people, the Twentyfirst, Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Amendments. The people rejected the Twenty-fourth [which dealt with the Treaty of Nice] and approved the Twenty-first and Twenty-third (above).



There is no Twenty-fifth Amendment. On 6 March, 2002, a proposal for the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution was put to the people and was rejected [Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy.]



Twenty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 2002 [Allowed the State to ratify the Treaty of Nice.]

7 November, 2002

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Act 2004 [Irish citizenship of children of non-national parents]

24 June, 2004

Twenty-Eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Treaty of Lisbon) Act 2009 [Allowed the State to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon]

15 October, 2009

Twenty-Ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Judges' Remuneration) Act 2011 [Amended section 5 of Article 35 of the Constitution]

17 November, 2011

Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution (Treaty on Stability, Co-ordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union) Act 2012 [Allowed the State to ratify the Treaty on Stability, Co-ordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union]

27 June, 2012

Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Act 2012 [Provided for an Article expressly relating to children].

28 April, 2015

There is no Thirty-second Amendment. On 4 October 2013, a proposal for the Thirty-second Amendment to the Constitution was put to the people and was rejected [Abolition of Seanad Éireann].

Thirty-third Amendment of the Constitution (Court of Appeal) Act 2013 [Provided for the establishment of a Court of Appeal]

1 November, 2013

Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Act 2015 [Provided that marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex].

29 August, 2015

There is no Thirty-fifth Amendment. On 22nd May 2015 a proposal for the Thirty-fifth Amendment to the constitution was put to the people and rejected [Age of Eligibility for Election to the Office of President].

Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Act 2018 [Provided for the regulation of termination of pregnancy]

18 September, 2018

Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter)Act 2018 [Provided for the removal of the word blasphemous from the Constitution]

27 November, 2018

Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Dissolution of Marriage) Act 2019 [Provided for changes to provisions regulating divorce by removing the constitutional requirement for a defined period of separation, and by substituting a provision on the recognition of foreign divorces]

11 June, 2019