Editing Douglas Hyde (section)

===Presidency===
{{more citations needed section|date=March 2016}}
Despite being placed in a position to shape the office of the presidency via precedent, Hyde by and large opted for a quiet, conservative interpretation of the office. His age and health obligated him to schedule periods of rest throughout his days, and his lack of political experience caused him to defer to his advisers on questions of policy and discretionary powers, especially to his Secretary, Michael McDunphy. On 13 November 1938, just months after Hyde's inauguration, Hyde attended an international soccer match between Ireland and [[Poland]] at [[Dalymount Park]] in Dublin. This was seen as breaching the [[Gaelic Athletic Association|GAA]]'s ban on 'foreign games' and he was subsequently removed as patron of the GAA, an honour he had held since 1902.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collinspress.ie/the-gaa-v-douglas-hyde.html|title=The GAA v Douglas Hyde|author=Cormac Moore|publisher=Collins Press|access-date=10 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010131753/http://www.collinspress.ie/the-gaa-v-douglas-hyde.html|archive-date=10 October 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After a massive stroke in April 1940, plans were made for his lying-in-state and a state funeral. However, Hyde survived, albeit paralysed and having to use a wheelchair.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Douglas Hyde: The Unlikely First President of Ireland |url=https://www.ireland-information.com/articles/douglashyde.htm
|access-date=2023-05-06 |website=ireland-information.com}}</ref>

Although the role of the President of Ireland is largely ceremonial, the president has the authority under the [[Constitution of Ireland]] to refuse to grant a dissolution of the Dáil where the Taoiseach has ceased to retain the support of a majority of the Dáil. The president is also the guardian of the constitution and may refer legislation to the Supreme Court before signing it into law.

Hyde was confronted with a crisis in 1944 when de Valera's government unexpectedly collapsed in a vote on the Transport Bill. De Valera asked Hyde for a dissolution of the Dáil. If a dissolution is granted, a general election is proclaimed to fill the seats thereby vacated. This means that for four to six weeks until the new Dáil assembled, there is no Dáil. Fearing this gap might facilitate an invasion during [[World War II]], during which no parliament could be called upon to act, the Oireachtas enacted [https://web.archive.org/web/20051205033004/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA11Y1943.html the General Elections (Emergency Powers) Act 1943], legislation under the emergency provisions of Article 28.3.3°), which allowed an election to be called separate from a dissolution, with the Dáil only being dissolved just before new Dáil would assemble. This ensured the gap between Dála (plural of Dáil) would be too short to cause a vacuum in major decision-making. Under the Act, the President could "refuse to proclaim a general election on the advice of a Taoiseach who had ceased to retain the support of a majority in Dáil Éireann". Hyde had that option but, after considering it with his senior advisor Michael McDunphy, he granted the dissolution.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

Hyde twice used his prerogative under Article 26 of the Constitution, having consulted the [[Council of State (Ireland)|Council of State]], to refer a Bill or part of a Bill to the Supreme Court, for the court's decision on whether the Bill or part referred is repugnant to the Constitution (so that the Bill in question cannot be signed into law).{{citation needed|date=March 2016}} On the first occasion, the court held that the Bill referred – Offences Against the State (Amendment) Bill 1940 – was not repugnant to the Constitution.<ref>''Re Article 26 of the Constitution and the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Bill, 1940'' [1940] I.R. 470.</ref> In response to the second reference, the Court decided that the particular provision referred to – section 4 of the School Attendance Bill 1942 – was repugnant to the Constitution.<ref>''Re Article 26 of the Constitution and the School Attendance Bill, 1942'' [1943] I.R. 334.</ref> Because of Article 34.3.3° of the Constitution, the constitutional validity of the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act, 1940<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1940/en/act/pub/0002/index.html|title=Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act, 1940|work=[[Irish Statute Book]]|access-date=10 January 2013|archive-date=8 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008005521/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1940/en/act/pub/0002/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> cannot be challenged in any court, since the Bill which became that Act was found by the Supreme Court not to be repugnant in the context of an Article 26 reference.{{clarify|date=March 2016}}

One of Hyde's last presidential acts was a visit to the German Ambassador [[Eduard Hempel]], on 3 May 1945, to offer his formal condolences on the [[death of Adolf Hitler]]. The visit remained a secret until 2005.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/hyde-and-de-valera-offered-condolences-on-hitlers-death-228426.html|title=Hyde (and de Valera) offered condolences on Hitler's death|work=[[Irish Independent]]|date=31 December 2005|access-date=6 November 2010|archive-date=24 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024195100/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/hyde-and-de-valera-offered-condolences-on-hitlers-death-228426.html|url-status=live}}</ref>