Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936 - Background and Effect of Legislation

Background and Effect of Legislation

Since coming to power after the Irish Free State's 1932 general election, Éamon de Valera's government had secured the passage of a number of amendments to the Irish constitution, reducing the role of the Crown in the state's internal affairs. This was a recapitulation of the idea of external association, which de Valera had unsuccessfully proposed as an alternative to the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty.

The culmination of the 1936 abdication crisis in Edward VIII's signing an Instrument of Abdication on 10 December 1936 was seized upon by de Valera as an opportunity to almost completely eliminate the role of the Crown, including the abolition of the office of governor-general. The Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act 1936 was thus rushed through the Oireachtas, amendeding the constitution by transferring all the responsibilities of the governor-general and almost all the responsibilities of the King to other offices. (The attempt to abolish the office of governor-general by removing all references to it in the constitution proved to be unsuccessful, requiring remedial legislation the following year.)

As a result of these changes, the only remaining reference to the King, albeit a deliberately oblique one, was in a proviso to Article 51, authorising the Executive Council (government) to "avail", for the appointment of diplomats, etc. and for the conclusion of treaties, "of any organ used as a constitutional organ for the like purposes" by any of the other members of the Commonwealth. This authority was made "to the extent and subject to any conditions which may be determined by law"; the Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936, signed on the following day, was that law.