Editing Constitution of Ireland (section)

===Head of state===
{{Main|Irish head of state from 1922 to 1949}}
In 1949 the Irish state abandoned its few remaining constitutional ties with the British monarchy, and it was declared by an Act of the Oireachtas that the term "Republic of Ireland" could be used as a "description" for the Irish state. However, there is debate as to whether or not the state was a republic in the period 1937–1949; between these dates the state was not described in any law as a republic. The current text of the Constitution does not mention the word "republic", but does for example assert that all power is derived, "under God, from the people" (Article 6.1).

Debate largely focuses on the question of whether, before 1949, the head of state was the [[President of Ireland]] or King [[George VI]]. The Constitution did not directly refer to the King, but also did not (and still does not) state that the President was head of state. The President exercised most of the usual internal functions of a head of state, such as formally appointing the Government, and promulgating laws.

In 1936, before the enactment of the existing Constitution, George VI had been declared "By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India" and, under the [[Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936|External Relations Act]] of the same year, it was this King who formally represented the state in its foreign affairs. Treaties, for example, were signed in the name of the King, who also accredited ambassadors and received the letters of credence of foreign diplomats. Representing a state abroad is seen by many scholars as the key characteristic of a head of state. This role meant, in any case, that George VI was the Head of State in the eyes of foreign nations.<ref>'Treaty-Making Procedure in the British Dominions' by Robert B. Stewart; The American Journal of International Law; Vol. 32, No. 3 (Jul., 1938), pp. 467–487 (pg. 480): Cambridge University Press</ref>

Section 3(1) of the Act stipulated that:

{{blockquote|so long as Saorstát Éireann [i.e. the Irish Free State] is associated with the following nations, that is to say, Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and South Africa [i.e. the dominions then within the Commonwealth], and so long as the King recognised by those nations as the symbol of their co-operation continues to act on behalf of each of those nations (on the advice of the several Governments thereof) for the purposes of the appointment of diplomatic and consular representatives and the conclusion of international agreements, the King so recognised may, and is hereby authorised to, act on behalf of Saorstát Éireann for the like purposes as and when advised by the Executive Council so to do."}}

However, the removal of the king's constitutional position within Ireland was brought about in 1948 not by any change to the Constitution but by ordinary law ([[The Republic of Ireland Act 1948]]). Since the Irish state was unambiguously a republic after 1949 (when the 1948 Act came into operation) and the same Constitution was in force prior to that time, some have argued that the Irish state was in reality a republic from the Constitution's enactment in 1937.