Editing 2nd Dáil (section)

==The Treaty==
{{main|Anglo-Irish Treaty|Anglo-Irish Treaty Dáil vote}}
During the Second Dáil the Irish Republic and the British Government of [[David Lloyd George]] agreed to hold peace negotiations. As [[President of Dáil Éireann]] ({{lang|ga|Príomh Aire}}, or literally First Minister) [[Éamon de Valera]] was the highest official in the Republic at this time but was notionally only the [[head of government]]. In August 1921, to strengthen his status in the negotiations, the Dáil amended the [[Dáil Constitution]] to grant him the title ''[[President of the Irish Republic|President of the Republic]]'', and he thereby became [[head of state]]. The purpose of this change was to impress upon the British the Republican doctrine that the negotiations were between two sovereign states with delegates accredited by their respective heads of state: the British king and the Irish president.

On 14 September 1921, the Dáil ratified the appointment of [[Arthur Griffith]], [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]], [[Robert Barton]], [[Eamonn Duggan]] and [[George Gavan Duffy]] as envoys [[plenipotentiary]] for the peace conference in England.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1921-09-14/ |title=Dáil Éireann debate - Wednesday, 14 Sep 1921 |access-date=1 February 2019 |website=Oireachtas |archive-date=2 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202041937/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1921-09-14/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Of the five, Collins, Griffith and Barton were members of the cabinet. These envoys eventually signed the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] on 6 December. Between the Truce and the signing of the Treaty the Second Dáil only sat on 10 days, and did not discuss in detail the options available to it. The debate on the Treaty started on 14 December, and continued for thirteen days of debate until 7 January 1922.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/find/?debateType=dail&datePeriod=dates&fromDate=14%2F12%2F1921&toDate=07%2F01%2F1922&term=%2Fie%2Foireachtas%2Fhouse%2Fdail%2F2&committee=&member= |title=Find a debate |access-date=1 February 2019 |website=Oireachtas |archive-date=14 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914181109/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/find/?debateType=dail&datePeriod=dates&fromDate=14%2F12%2F1921&toDate=07%2F01%2F1922&term=%2Fie%2Foireachtas%2Fhouse%2Fdail%2F2&committee=&member= |url-status=live }}</ref> On that date, the Dáil approved the treaty by 64 in favour to 57 against.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1922-01-07/2/ |title=Debate on Treaty - Dáil Éireann debate |date=7 January 1922 |access-date=1 February 2019 |website=Oireachtas |archive-date=2 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202042550/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1922-01-07/2/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 

The Treaty Debates were the first publicly reported debate on what [[Sinn Féin]] felt that it had achieved and could achieve.[[Anglo-Irish Treaty vote|In the vote in January 1921]], the deputies who represented more than one constituency were each only permitted to vote once, but this would not have changed the outcome. As the leader of the anti-Treaty minority de Valera resigned as president. He allowed himself to be nominated again, but was defeated on a vote of 60–58.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1922-01-10/2/|title=Election of President - Dáil Éireann debate|date=10 January 1922|access-date=1 February 2019|website=Oireachtas|archive-date=31 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831094244/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1922-01-10/2/|url-status=live}}</ref> He was succeeded as president by Arthur Griffith. The anti-Treaty deputies continued to attend the Dáil, with de Valera becoming the first [[Leader of the Opposition (Ireland)|Leader of the Opposition]] in the Dáil.

The ratification specified by the Treaty was by "a meeting summoned for the purpose of the members elected to sit in the House of Commons of Southern Ireland". The Dáil vote did not fulfil this because four unionists were absent and one Northern Ireland member was present. The requisite approval came at a separate meeting on 14 January 1922 attended by the unionists and boycotted by anti-Treaty TDs.<ref>{{cite web|title=President's Statement - Dáil Éireann debate|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1922-02-28/4/|date=28 February 1922|access-date=1 February 2019|website=Oireachtas|archive-date=2 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202041934/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1922-02-28/4/|url-status=live}}</ref> The meeting on 14 January also approved a [[Provisional Government of Ireland (1922)|Provisional Government]] led by Collins, which ran in parallel to Griffith's Dáil government and with overlapping membership. This meeting was not of the House of Commons of Southern Ireland itself, but merely of "the members elected to sit in" it. The [[Government of Ireland Act 1920]] required the Commons to be summoned by the [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland|Lord Lieutenant]] and its members to take an [[Oath of Allegiance (United Kingdom)|oath of allegiance to the king]],<ref>[http://www.bailii.org/nie/legis/num_act/1920/192000067.html Government of Ireland Act 1920] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923230148/http://www.bailii.org/nie/legis/num_act/1920/192000067.html |date=23 September 2015 }}, §11(2) and §18(2)</ref> whereas the meeting on 14 January was summoned by Griffith and the members present did not take an oath.