Taoiseach

Republic of Ireland

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The Taoiseach (pronounced /ˈtiːʃəx/ in English[1]; IPA: [t̪ˠiːʃʲəx] (plural Taoisigh ([t̪ˠiːʃʲɪj] or [t̪ˠiːʃʲɪɟ]) in Irish), also referred to as An Taoiseach ([ən t̪ˠiːʃʲəx]),[2] is the head of government (equivalent to prime minister) of Ireland.

The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas), and must, while he remains in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil. The current Taoiseach is Brian Cowen, TD, leader of the Fianna Fáil party.

1 Overview
- 1.1 Salary
2 History
3 List of Taoisigh
4 Footnotes
5 See also
6 Further reading
7 External links

Overview

Under the Constitution of Ireland the Taoiseach must be appointed from among the members of Dáil Éireann. In the event that the Taoiseach loses the support of a majority in Dáil Éireann, he is not automatically removed from office but, rather, is compelled either to resign or to persuade the President to dissolve the Dáil. The President may refuse to grant a dissolution, and, in effect, force the Taoiseach to resign, but, to date, no president has exercised this prerogative (though the option arose in 1944, twice in 1982 and would have arisen in 1994 had Albert Reynolds chosen, following his Dáil defeat, to seek a dissolution rather than resign[citation needed]). The Taoiseach may lose the support of Dáil Éireann by the passage of a vote of no confidence, the failure of a vote of confidence or, alternatively, the Dáil may refuse supply.[3] In the event of the Taoiseach's resignation, he continues to exercise the duties and functions of his office until the appointment of a successor.

The Taoiseach nominates the remaining members of the Government, who are then, with the consent of the Dáil, appointed by the President. The Taoiseach also has authority to have fellow members of the cabinet dismissed from office. He or she is further responsible for appointing eleven members of the Senate.

Salary

The Taoiseach's salary[4] is considerably higher than for leaders in many other countries; €310,000 annually compared to £127,000 (~€160,000) for the British Prime Minister, $400,000 (~€260,000) for the President of the United States and €228,000 for the President of France. As of October 2007, the Taoiseach is the highest-paid head of government in the OECD countries.[5] However, the remuneration structures for Irish government employees mean that comparison with other countries are not useful and are discouraged by the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector.[6] For example, the President of the United States and the British Prime Minister are supplied with residences. However, it has been reported that former Steward's Lodge at Farmleigh in the Phoenix Park will shortly be made into the official residence of the Taoiseach.[7]

History

Department of the Taoiseach at Government Buildings, Merrion Square, Dublin

The words Taoiseach and Tánaiste (the title of the deputy prime minister) are both from the Irish language and of ancient origin. Though the Taoiseach is described in the Constitution of Ireland as "the head of the Government or Prime Minister",[8] its literal translation is "leader" or "chief". Some historians suggest that in ancient Ireland (where these terms originate), a taoiseach was a minor king, while a tánaiste was a governor placed in a kingdom whose king had been deposed or, more usually, his heir-apparent. In Scottish Gaelic, tòiseach translates as clan chief and both words originally had similar meaning in the Gaelic languages of Scotland and Ireland. The related Welsh language word tywysog (current meaning "prince" — from tywys, "to lead") appears to have had a similar meaning.

The modern position of Taoiseach was established by the 1937 Constitution of Ireland, to replace the position of President of the Executive Council of the 1922–1937 Irish Free State. The positions of Taoiseach and President of the Executive Council differed in certain fundamental respects. Under the Constitution of the Irish Free State the latter was vested with considerably less power and was largely just the cabinet's presiding officer. For example, the President of the Executive Council could not dismiss a fellow minister. The Free State's cabinet, the Executive Council had to be disbanded and reformed entirely, in order to remove one of its number. The President of the Executive Council could also not personally seek a dissolution of Dáil Éireann from the head of state, that power belonging collectively to the Executive Council. In contrast, the Taoiseach created in 1937 possesses a much more powerful role. He can both instruct the President to dismiss ministers, and request a parliamentary dissolution on his own initiative.[9]

Historically, where there have been multi-party or coalition governments, the Taoiseach has come from the leader of the largest party in the coalition. One exception to this was John A. Costello, who was not leader of his party, but an agreed choice to head the government, because the other parties refused to accept then Fine Gael leader Richard Mulcahy as Taoiseach.

List of Taoisigh

Main articles: List of Irish heads of government since 1919, List of Taoisigh by important facts

Prior to the enactment of the 1937 Constitution, the head of government was referred to as the President of the Executive Council. This office was first held by W. T. Cosgrave of Cumann na nGaedhael from 1922–32, and then by Éamon de Valera from 1932–37. By convention Taoisigh are numbered to include Cosgrave,[10][11][12][13] for example Brian Cowen is considered the 12th Taoiseach not the 11th.

President of the Executive Council

# Name Picture Entered Office Left Office Elected Party 1. W. T. Cosgrave 6 December 1922 9 March 19325 terms Cumann na nGaedhael2. Éamon de Valera 9 March 1932 29 December 19373 terms Fianna Fáil

Taoiseach

# Name Picture Entered Office Left Office Elected Period Party 1. Éamon de Valera 29 December 1937 18 February 19483 terms 1st time Fianna Fáil2. John A. Costello 18 February 1948 13 June 19511 term 1st time Fine Gael Éamon de Valera 13 June 1951 2 June 19541 term 2nd time Fianna Fáil John A. Costello 2 June 1954 20 March 19571 term 2nd time Fine Gael Éamon de Valera 20 March 1957 23 June 19591 term 3rd time Fianna Fáil3. Seán Lemass 23 June 1959 10 November 19663 terms Fianna Fáil4. Jack Lynch 10 November 1966 14 March 19732 terms 1st time Fianna Fáil5. Liam Cosgrave 14 March 1973 5 July 19771 term Fine Gael Jack Lynch 5 July 1977 11 December 19791 term 2nd time Fianna Fáil6. Charles Haughey 11 December 1979 30 June 19811 term 1st time Fianna Fáil7. Garret FitzGerald 30 June 1981 9 March 19821 term 1st time Fine Gael Charles Haughey 9 March 1982 14 December 19821 term 2nd time Fianna Fáil Garret FitzGerald 14 December 1982 10 March 19871 term 2nd time Fine Gael Charles Haughey 10 March 1987 11 February 19922 terms 3rd time Fianna Fáil8. Albert Reynolds 11 February 1992 15 December 19941 term Fianna Fáil9. John Bruton 15 December 1994 26 June 19971 term Fine Gael10. Bertie Ahern June 26, 1997 6 May 20083 terms Fianna Fáil11. Brian Cowen 7 May 2008Incumbent 1 term Fianna Fáil

Living former Taoisigh

There have never been more than six former Taoisigh alive at any one time.[14]

Footnotes

^ OED
^ Retaining the Irish definite article an /ən/ instead of English the.
^ One example of the Dáil refusing supply occurred in January 1982 when the then Fine Gael–Labour Party coalition government of Garret FitzGerald lost a vote on the budget.[1]
^ "Taoiseach to receive €38k pay rise", RTÉ News, 25 October 2007.
^ "Have you ever wondered why Bertie Ahern always looks so cheerful?", The Sunday Times, 29 October 2007.
^ Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector (2007-09-14). Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
^ Opulent Phoenix Park lodge is set to become 'Fortress Cowen' (2008-05-18). Retrieved on 2008-05-18.
^ Article 13.1.1° and Article 28.5.1°. The latter provision reads: "The head of the Government, or Prime Minister, shall be called, and is in this Constitution referred to as, the Taoiseach."
^ Among the most famous ministerial dismissals have been those of Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney during the Arms Crisis in 1970, Brian Lenihan in 1990 and Albert Reynolds, Pádraig Flynn and Máire Geoghegan-Quinn in 1991.
^ "Coughlan new Tánaiste in Cowen Cabinet", The Irish Times, 2008-05-07. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
^ "Taoiseach reveals new front bench", RTÉ News, 2008-05-07. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
^ "Cowen confirmed as Taoiseach", BreakingNews.ie, 2008-05-07. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
^ "Former Taoisigh", Department of the Taoiseach. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
^ From 26 June 1997 to 20 October 1999, Jack Lynch, Liam Cosgrave, Charles Haughey, Garret FitzGerald, Albert Reynolds and John Bruton were living, from the time Bruton left office until the death of Lynch.

External links

Official site

v • d • e Government of Ireland
Rialtas na hÉireann

An Taoiseach (Prime Minister) • An Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister)

Agriculture, Fisheries & Food • Arts, Sport & Tourism • Communications, Energy & Natural Resources • Community, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs • Defence • Education & Science • Enterprise, Trade & Employment • Environment, Heritage & Local Government • Finance • Foreign Affairs • Health & Children • Justice, Equality & Law Reform • Social & Family Affairs • Transport

Former Government Positions:
Communications • Co-ordination of Defensive Measures • Economic Affairs • Fine Arts • Industries • Irish • Labour • Posts & Telegraphs • Public Service • Publicity • Supplies

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