Or rather how it should work. But let’s take a look at the constitutional provisions for our national parliament we call the Dáil now that we are heading for the dissolution of the current and an election for the next one.
I am going to bring you an account of our parliamentary system, guided by and courtesy of one of my favourite reference books – Word Gloss by Jim O’Donnell.
Well, Dáil Éireann is the Irish House of Representatives and the word ‘Dáil’ itself is an old Irish word with historical and literary connotations, Dáil means ‘assembly for debate’ which is what the word Parliament itself means. The term ‘Dáil’ was first introduced into Irish politics in 1919 to describe the assembly in the Mansion House, Dublin of the representatives of the Irish people returned in the general election of December 1918. Though Dáil Éireann, like the British House of Commons, is called the Lower House, it dominates the law-making process.