Editing Irish Free State (section)

=="Freedom to achieve freedom"==
[[File:Irish Free State passport.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Irish passport|Irish Free State passport]] (holder's name removed)]]

===Governance===
The following were the principal parties of government of the Free State between 1922 and 1937:
* [[Cumann na nGaedheal]] under W. T. Cosgrave (1922–32)
* [[Fianna Fáil]] under Éamon de Valera (1932–37)

===Constitutional evolution===
[[File:Stamp irl 1922 2N6se.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Overprint]]ed stamp]]
Michael Collins described the Treaty as "the freedom to achieve freedom". In practice, the Treaty offered most of the symbols and powers of independence. These included a functioning, if disputed, [[Representative democracy|parliamentary democracy]] with its own executive, judiciary and written constitution which could be changed by the Oireachtas. Although an [[Irish republic]] had not been on offer, the Treaty still afforded Ireland more internal independence than it had possessed in over 400 years, and far more autonomy than had ever been hoped for by those who had advocated for [[Irish Home Rule movement|Home Rule]].<ref>Michael Gallagher, "The changing constitution." in ''Politics in the Republic of Ireland'' (Routledge, 2009) pp.94-130. </ref>

However, a number of conditions existed:

* The king remained king ''in'' Ireland;
* Britain retained the so-called strategic [[Treaty Ports (Ireland)|Treaty Ports]] on Ireland's south and north-west coasts which were to remain occupied by the [[Royal Navy]]; 
* Prior to the passage of the [[Statute of Westminster 1931|Statute of Westminster]], the UK government continued to have a role in Irish governance. Officially the representative of the king, the Governor-General also received instructions from the British Government on his use of the [[Royal assent (Ireland)|Royal Assent]], namely a Bill passed by the Dáil and Seanad could be Granted Assent (signed into law), Withheld (not signed, pending later approval) or Denied (vetoed). The [[letters patent]] to the first Governor-General, [[Tim Healy (politician)|Tim Healy]], explicitly named Bills that were to be rejected if passed by the Dáil and Seanad, such as any attempt to abolish the Oath. In the event, no such Bills were ever introduced, so the issue was moot.

[[File:Irish Free State Butter, Eggs and Bacon for our Breakfasts Du beurre, des œufs et du bacon de l’État libre d’Irlande au déjeuner.jpg|right|thumb|Poster promoting Irish Free State farm goods for breakfast to Canadians ("Irish Free State butter, eggs and bacon for our breakfasts")]]

* As with the other dominions, the Free State had a status of association with the UK rather than being completely legally independent from it. However, the meaning of 'Dominion status' changed radically during the 1920s, starting with the [[Chanak Crisis|Chanak crisis]] in 1922 and quickly followed by the directly negotiated [[Halibut Treaty]] of 1923. The [[1926 Imperial Conference]] declared the equality [including the UK] of all member states of the Commonwealth. The Conference also led to a reform of the king's title, given effect by the ''[[Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927]]'', which changed the king's royal title so that it took account of the fact that there was no longer a [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]. The king adopted the following style by which he would be known in all of his empire: ''By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India''. That was the king's title in Ireland just as elsewhere in his empire.<ref>Long after the Irish Free State had ceased to exist, when [[Elizabeth II]] ascended the Throne, the [[Royal Titles Act 1953 (United Kingdom)|Royal Titles Act 1953]][http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/1-2/9] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630144612/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/1-2/9|date=30 June 2013}} was passed, as were other Acts concerning her Style in other parts of the Empire. Until then the British monarch had only one style. The king was never simply the "King of Ireland" or the "King of the Irish Free State".</ref>
* In the conduct of external relations, the Free State tried to push the boundaries of its status as a Dominion. It 'accepted' credentials from international ambassadors to Ireland, something no other dominion up to then had done. It registered the treaty with the [[League of Nations]] as an international document, over the objections of the United Kingdom, which saw it as a mere ''internal'' document between a dominion and the United Kingdom. Entitlement of citizenship of the Free State was defined in the Irish Free State Constitution, but the status of that citizenship was contentious. One of the first projects of the Free State was the design and production of the [[Great Seal of the Irish Free State|Great Seal of Saorstát Éireann]] which was carried out on behalf of the Government by [[Hugh Kennedy (judge)|Hugh Kennedy]].

The Statute of Westminster of 1931, embodying a decision of an Imperial Conference, enabled each dominion to enact new legislation or to change any extant legislation, without resorting to any role for the British Parliament that may have enacted the original legislation in the past. It also removed Westminster's authority to legislate for the Dominions, except with the express request and consent of the relevant Dominion's parliament. This change had the effect of making the dominions, including the Free State, ''de jure'' independent nations—thus fulfilling Collins' vision of having "the freedom to achieve freedom".

The Free State symbolically marked these changes in two mould-breaking moves soon after winning internationally recognised independence:
* It sought, and got, the king's acceptance to have an Irish minister, to the complete exclusion of British ministers, formally advise the king in the exercise of his powers and functions as king in the Irish Free State. This gave the President of the Executive Council the right to directly advise the king in his capacity as His Majesty's Irish Prime Minister. Two examples of this are the signing of a treaty between the Irish Free State and the [[Portugal|Portuguese Republic]] in 1931, and the act recognising the [[Abdication of Edward VIII|abdication]] of [[Edward VIII|King Edward VIII]] in 1936 separately from the recognition by the British Parliament.
* The unprecedented replacement of the use of the [[Great Seal of the Realm]] and its replacement by the Great Seal of Saorstát Éireann, which the king awarded to the Irish Free State in 1931. (The Irish Seal consisted of a picture of King George V enthroned on one side, with the Irish state harp and the words ''Saorstát Éireann'' on the reverse. It is now on display in the Irish National Museum, [[Collins Barracks, Dublin|Collins Barracks]] in Dublin.)

When Éamon de Valera became President of the Executive Council (prime minister) in 1932 he described Cosgrave's ministers' achievements simply. Having read the files, he told his son, Vivion, "they were magnificent, son".

The Statute of Westminster allowed de Valera, on becoming President of the Executive Council (February 1932), to go even further. With no ensuing restrictions on his policies, he abolished the Oath of Allegiance (which Cosgrave intended to do had he won the [[1932 Irish general election|1932 general election]]), the [[Seanad Éireann (Irish Free State)|Seanad]], university representation in the Dáil, and appeals to the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]].

One major policy error occurred in 1936 when he attempted to use the abdication of King Edward VIII to abolish the crown and governor-general in the Free State with the "[[Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act 1936|Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act]]". He was advised by senior law officers and other constitutional experts that, as the crown and governor-generalship existed separately from the constitution in a vast number of acts, charters, orders-in-council, and letters patent, they both still existed. A second bill, the "[[Executive Powers (Consequential Provisions) Act 1937|Executive Powers (Consequential Provisions) Act, 1937]]" was quickly introduced to repeal the necessary elements. De Valera retroactively dated the second act back to December 1936.

===Currency===
The new state continued to use the [[Pound sterling]] from its inception; there is no reference in the Treaty or in either of the enabling Acts to currency.<ref>Except perhaps by inference: the Treaty assigned to the Irish Free State the same status in the Empire as Canada and the latter had already [1851{{mdash}}59] [[History of the Canada dollar#1851|replaced the British Pound]] (with the Canadian Dollar).</ref> Nonetheless, and within a few years, the Dáil passed the Coinage Act, 1926 (which provided for a ''Saorstát'' [Free State] coinage) and the Currency Act, 1927 (which provided ''inter alia'' for banknotes of the [[Irish Pound#Second pound|Saorstát pound]]). The new Saorstát pound was defined by the 1927 Act to have exactly the same weight and fineness of gold as was the [[sovereign (British coin)|sovereign]] at the time, making the new currency [[Fixed exchange rate system|pegged]] at 1:1 with sterling. The State circulated its new national coinage in 1928, marked ''Saorstát Éireann'' and a [[Series A banknotes|national series of banknotes]]. British coinage remained acceptable in the Free State at an equal rate. In 1937, when the Free State was superseded by Ireland (''Éire''), the pound became known as the "[[Irish pound]]" and the coins were marked ''Éire''.