Nineteenth Amendment of The Constitution of Ireland

Nineteenth Amendment Of The Constitution Of Ireland

The Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland introduced changes to Articles 2 and 3 of the constitution required by the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Prior to 1999, Articles 2 and 3 made the controversial claim that the whole island of Ireland formed one single "national territory". By means of the Nineteenth Amendment, Articles 2 and 3 were changed to an aspiration towards creating a united Ireland by peaceful means.

The Nineteenth Amendment was approved by referendum in 1998, at the same time as the Eighteenth Amendment. However the Government of Ireland did not want the changes to Articles 2 and 3 to be made until it could confirm that other aspects of the Belfast Agreement had been complied with. For this reason the Nineteenth Amendment did not itself alter Articles 2 and 3. Rather it introduced a special mechanism whereby changes to Articles 2 and 3 could be brought about at a future date by a formal declaration made by the Government. That declaration was made in December 1999, whereupon the change in articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution took effect.

The Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1998 was approved by referendum on 22 May 1998 and signed into law on 3 June of the same year. The Government declaration was made on 2 December 1999, bringing the changes to Articles 2 and 3 and certain other parts of the constitution into effect.