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Concept
Executive Council of the Irish Free State
Summary
The Executive Council (Ard-Chomhairle) was the cabinet and de facto executive branch of government of the 1922–1937 Irish Free State. Formally, executive power was vested in the Governor-General on behalf of the King. In practice, however, it was the Council that governed, since the Governor-General was (with few exceptions) bound to act on its advice. The Executive Council included a prime minister called the President of the Executive Council and a deputy prime minister called the Vice-President. A member of the Council was called an executive minister, as distinct from an extern minister who had charge of a department without being in the Council.
The President of the Executive Council was appointed by the Governor-General after being nominated by Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament), and the remaining Executive Ministers were nominated by the President. The Executive Council could also be removed by a vote of no confidence in the Dáil.
For formal and diplomatic purposes, the description "His Majesty's Government in the Irish Free State" was sometimes used.
The Free State constitution provided that executive authority would be vested in the King and exercised by his Governor-General, who would appoint an Executive Council to "aid and advise" him. However, under Article 51 this power was only exercisable "in accordance with the law, practice and constitutional usage governing the exercise of the Executive Authority in the case of the Dominion of Canada". In practice this meant that, as in Canada, the Governor-General was in most cases required to act on the advice of the Executive Council. Thus, it was the cabinet in which true authority lay.
In addition to de facto exercising the executive authority, the Executive Council, by advising the Governor-General, had the exclusive right to:
Convene and dissolve parliament – although this right could not be exercised by a cabinet which had lost the confidence of the Dáil.
Command of the Defence Forces – although the cabinet could not involve the state in a war without the consent of the Oireachtas.
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