View source for Ninth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland

{{Short description|Amendment granting non-Irish citizens suffrage}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox referendum
| name        = Ninth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
| title       = To allow non-Irish citizens to vote in general elections
| country     = Ireland
| date        = {{Start date|1984|06|14|df=y}}
| yes         =   828,483
| no          =   270,250
| total       = 1,138,895
| electorate  = 2,399,257
}}
The '''Ninth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1984''' (previously [[bill (law)|bill]] no. 11 of 1984) is an [[Amendments to the Constitution of Ireland|amendment]] to the [[Constitution of Ireland]] that allowed for the extension of the [[suffrage|right to vote]] in elections to [[Dáil Éireann]] (the house of representatives of the [[Oireachtas]]) to non-Irish citizens. It was approved by [[referendum]] on 14 June 1984, the same day as the [[1984 European Parliament election in Ireland|European Parliament election]], and signed into law on 2 August of the same year.

==Background==
Article 16 of the Constitution of Ireland as approved in 1937, and [[Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland|amended in 1972 to lower the voting age]], provided that the franchise for elections to Dáil Éireann would be citizens who have reached the age of 18. The Electoral Amendment Bill 1983, proposed by the [[Fine Gael]]–[[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] [[Government of the 24th Dáil|government]] led by [[Taoiseach]] [[Garret FitzGerald]], would have amended the Electoral Act 1963 to allow [[British nationality law|British citizens]] as defined by the [[British Nationality Act 1981]] to vote in elections to Dáil Éireann. This was to reciprocate the [[Representation of the People Act 1949]], a British statute, which among other provisions had granted Irish citizens resident in the United Kingdom the right to vote in elections to the British parliament.

The Bill was [[Council of State (Ireland)#Referring of bills|referred]] by [[President of Ireland|President]] [[Patrick Hillery]] to the [[Supreme Court of Ireland|Supreme Court]] under Article 26 of the Constitution. In a judgment delivered on 8 February 1984, they found the bill to be unconstitutional.<ref>{{cite journal|title=''In the Matter of Article 26 of the Constitution and in the Matter of The Electoral (Amendment) Bill, 1983''|last=O'Higgins CJ|author-link=Tom O'Higgins|date=8 February 1984|work=Irish Reports|page=268}}</ref>

In response, the government then proposed a constitutional amendment which would specifically allow the franchise in elections to Dáil Éireann to be extended to non-Irish citizens. This did not affect [[Irish presidential election|presidential elections]] or referendums, where the text of the Constitution continued to specify citizens only.

==Changes to the text==
'''Deletion of the entirety of Article 16.1.2°:'''
{{quote frame|Every citizen without distinction of sex who has reached the age of eighteen years who is not disqualified by law and complies with the provisions of the law relating to the election of members of Dáil Éireann, shall have the right to vote at an election for members of Dáil Éireann.}}

'''Substitution of new Article 16.1.2°:'''
{{quote frame|
:i.  All citizens, and

:ii. such other persons in the State as may be determined by law,
without distinction of sex who have reached the age of eighteen years who are not disqualified by law and comply with the provisions of the law relating to the election of members of Dáil Éireann, shall have the right to vote at an election for members of Dáil Éireann.}}

'''Amendment to Article 16.1.3° by the addition of the text in bold:'''
{{quote frame|No law shall be enacted placing any citizen under disability or incapacity for membership of Dáil Éireann on the ground of sex or disqualifying any citizen '''or any other person''' from voting at an election for members of Dáil Éireann on that ground.}}

==Oireachtas debates==
The Ninth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1984 was proposed by [[Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage|Minister for the Environment]] [[Liam Kavanagh]] on 11 April 1984.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1984-04-11/3/|title=Ninth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1984 — Second Stage.|date=11 April 1984|access-date=16 May 2018|publisher=Houses of the Oireachtas|archive-date=16 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516175035/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1984-04-11/3/|url-status=live}}</ref> It had the support of opposition party [[Fianna Fáil]] and passed all stages of the Dáil without amendment on that day.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1984-04-11/4/|title=Ninth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1984: Committee and Final Stages.|date=11 April 1984|access-date=16 May 2018|publisher=Houses of the Oireachtas|archive-date=16 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516175032/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1984-04-11/4/|url-status=live}}</ref> It passed all stages of the Seanad on the same day.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/1984-04-11/6/|title=Ninth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1984: Committee and Final Stages.|date=11 April 1984|access-date=16 May 2018|publisher=Houses of the Oireachtas|archive-date=16 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516174821/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/1984-04-11/6/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Information to voters==
Under the provisions of the Referendum Act 1984, the changes was described on the polling card sent to voters as:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1984/act/7/enacted/en/html|title=Referendum (Amendment) Act, 1984|work=Irish Statute Book|date=17 April 1984|access-date=16 May 2018|publisher=[[Attorney General of Ireland]]|archive-date=16 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516174549/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1984/act/7/enacted/en/html|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{quote frame|The Ninth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1984, proposes to extend the right conferred on citizens to vote at elections for members of Dáil Éireann to such other persons in the State who have reached the age of 18 years as may be specified by legislation enacted by the Oireachtas.}}

==Result==
{{Referendum
|title      = Ninth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland referendum
|yes        = 828,483
|yespct     = 75.40
|no         = 270,250
|nopct      = 24.60
|valid      = 1,098,733
|validpct   = 96.47
|invalid    = 40,162
|invalidpct = 3.53
|total      = 1,138,895
|turnoutpct = 47.47
|electorate = 2,399,257
|source     = {{URL|http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/migrated-files/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/Voting/referendum_results_1937-2015.pdf|Referendum Results 1937–2015}}
}}

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Results by constituency<ref name=Ref_results>{{cite web|url=http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/migrated-files/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/Voting/referendum_results_1937-2015.pdf|work=[[Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government]]|title=Referendum Results 1937–2015|page=39|date=23 August 2016|access-date=12 June 2018|archive-date=20 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220195002/http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/migrated-files/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/Voting/referendum_results_1937-2015.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
! rowspan=2 | Constituency
! rowspan=2 | Electorate
! rowspan=2 | {{nowrap|Turnout (%)}}
! colspan=2 | Votes
! colspan=2 | Proportion of votes
|-
! Yes
! No
! Yes
! No
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Carlow]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 27,838
| style="text-align: right;" | 45.7%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''9,272'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 3,077
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''75.1%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 24.9%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Cavan]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 39,012
| style="text-align: right;" | 54.8%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''15,228'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 5,114
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''74.9%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 25.1%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Clare]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 62,782
| style="text-align: right;" | 51.7%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''25,119'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 6,082
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''80.6%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 19.4%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[Cork (city)|Cork City]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 90,442
| style="text-align: right;" | 39.4%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''26,325'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 8,269
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''76.1%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 23.9%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Cork]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 182,816
| style="text-align: right;" | 56.5%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''76,884'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 22,431
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''77.5%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 22.5%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Donegal]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 89,072
| style="text-align: right;" | 55.0%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''31,950'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 13,991
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''69.6%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 30.4%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[Dublin|Dublin City]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 379,501
| style="text-align: right;" | 39.8%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''107,191'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 40,347
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''72.7%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 27.3%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Dublin]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 319,818
| style="text-align: right;" | 42.2%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''99,771'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 32,710
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''75.4%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 24.6%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Galway]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 124,762
| style="text-align: right;" | 39.5%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''37,422'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 10,092
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''78.8%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 21.2%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Kerry]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 86,653
| style="text-align: right;" | 48.2%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''29,625'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 10,189
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''74.5%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 25.5%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Kildare]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 71,584
| style="text-align: right;" | 41.5%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''22,491'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 6,510
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''77.6%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 22.4%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Kilkenny]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 48,538
| style="text-align: right;" | 47.5%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''17,384'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 4,833
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''78.3%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 21.7%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Laois]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 34,472
| style="text-align: right;" | 63.1%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''15,774'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 5,206
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''75.2%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 24.8%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Leitrim]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 20,887
| style="text-align: right;" | 68.4%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''9,721'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 3,745
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''72.2%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 27.8%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[Limerick|Limerick City]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 39,034
| style="text-align: right;" | 42.3%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''12,258'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 3,723
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''76.8%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 23.2%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Limerick]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 70,625
| style="text-align: right;" | 51.8%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''27,825'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 7,259
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''79.4%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 20.6%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Longford]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 21,704
| style="text-align: right;" | 50.0%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''7,965'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 2,320
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''77.5%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 22.5%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Louth]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 60,448
| style="text-align: right;" | 45.4%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''18,128'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 8,288
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''68.7%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 31.3%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Mayo]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 83,217
| style="text-align: right;" | 51.1%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''31,966'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 8,945
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''78.2%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 21.8%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Meath]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 66,974
| style="text-align: right;" | 50.3%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''24,529'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 7,932
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''75.6%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 24.4%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Monaghan]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 35,885
| style="text-align: right;" | 54.2%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''12,875'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 5,367
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''70.6%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 29.4%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Offaly]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 39,615
| style="text-align: right;" | 67.1%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''18,987'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 6,452
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''74.7%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 25.3%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Roscommon]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 38,741
| style="text-align: right;" | 53.4%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''15,638'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 4,259
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''78.6%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 21.4%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Sligo]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 38,822
| style="text-align: right;" | 59.5%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''17,045'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 5,154
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''76.8%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 23.2%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[North Tipperary]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 41,103
| style="text-align: right;" | 55.5%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''16,629'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 5,258
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''76.0%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 24.0%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[South Tipperary]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 52,631
| style="text-align: right;" | 55.3%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''22,047'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 5,875
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''79.0%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 21.0%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[Waterford|Waterford City]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 24,988
| style="text-align: right;" | 42.9%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''7,678'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 2,738
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''73.8%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 26.2%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Waterford]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 35,064 	  
| style="text-align: right;" | 48.4%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''12,507'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 3,760
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''76.9%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 23.1%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Westmeath]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 42,255
| style="text-align: right;" | 46.9%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''14,669'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 4,433
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''76.8%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 23.2%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Wexford]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 68,455
| style="text-align: right;" | 51.3%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''23,948'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 9,778
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''71.1%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 28.9%
|-
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| [[County Wicklow]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 61,519
| style="text-align: right;" | 42.8%
| style="text-align: right;" | '''19,632'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 6,113
| style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | '''76.3%'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 23.7%
|- class="sortbottom" style="font-weight:bold; background:rgb(232,232,232);"
| Total
| style="text-align: right;" | 2,399,257
| style="text-align: right;" | 47.5%
| style="text-align: right;" | 828,483
| style="text-align: right;" | 270,250
| style="text-align: right;" | 75.4%
| style="text-align: right;" | 24.6%
|}
Note: For this referendum, the constituencies used were each county and [[county borough]] (city), which were deemed under section 2 of the Referendum (Amendment) Act 1984 to be constituencies for the purpose of the poll.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/migrated-files/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/Voting/referendum_results_1937-2015.pdf|work=[[Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government]]|title=Referendum Results 1937–2015|page=38|date=23 August 2016|access-date=12 June 2018|archive-date=20 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220195002/http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/migrated-files/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/Voting/referendum_results_1937-2015.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Usually in Irish referendums the [[Dáil Éireann]] [[Dáil constituencies|general election constituencies]] are used.

==Aftermath==
The Electoral (Amendment) Act 1985 was passed the following year. This amended the Electoral Act 1963 to grant the vote to British citizens. It also allowed the Minister for the Environment to extend the franchise to citizens of a member of the [[European Communities]] on a reciprocal basis. To date, no such order has been made for any other country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1985/act/12/enacted/en/html|title=Electoral (Amendment) Act, 1985|work=Irish Statute Book|date=17 April 1984|access-date=16 May 2018|publisher=[[Attorney General of Ireland]]|archive-date=16 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516175312/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1985/act/12/enacted/en/html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Irish nationality law]]
*[[Citizenship]]
*[[Politics of the Republic of Ireland]]
*[[History of the Republic of Ireland]]
*[[Constitutional amendment]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1984/en/act/cam/0009/index.html Ninth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1984]
*[http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1985/act/12/enacted/en/html Electoral (Amendment) Act 1985]
*[http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/en/constitution/index.html Full text of the Constitution of Ireland]
*[https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/1984/11/?tab=debates Oireachtas Debates on the Ninth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1984]

{{Amendments of the Constitution of Ireland}}

[[Category:1984 in Irish law]]
[[Category:1984 in Irish politics]]
[[Category:1984 referendums]]
[[Category:Amendments of the Constitution of Ireland|09]]
[[Category:Constitutional referendums in the Republic of Ireland|09]]
[[Category:Suffrage referendums]]
[[Category:June 1984 in Europe]]
[[Category:Electoral reform in the Republic of Ireland|Amendment, 09]]
[[Category:1980s elections in Ireland|Amendment, 09]]
[[Category:Electoral reform referendums]]