Editing Constitution of Ireland (section)

===The "national territory"===
{{Main|Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland|Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland}}
As adopted in 1937, Article 2 asserted that "the whole island of Ireland, its islands and the territorial seas" formed a single "national territory", while Article 3 asserted that the Oireachtas had a right "to exercise jurisdiction over the whole of that territory". These articles offended some [[Unionist (Ireland)|Unionists]] in Northern Ireland, who considered them tantamount to an illegal extraterritorial claim.

Under the terms of the 1998 [[Good Friday Agreement]], Articles 2 and 3 were amended to remove any reference to a "national territory", and to state that a united Ireland should only come about with the consent of majorities in both the jurisdictions on the island of Ireland. The amended Articles also guarantee the people of Northern Ireland the right to be a "part of the Irish Nation", and to Irish citizenship. This change came into force in December 1999.