The granting, reserving or withholding of royal assent () was one of the key roles, and potentially one of the key powers, possessed by the Governor-General of the Irish Free State. Until it was granted, no bill passed by the Oireachtas (composed of the Dáil and the Seanad) could complete its passage of enactment and become law.
Origins of the power
The power was created in Article 41 of the Irish Free State Constitution (Saorstát Éireann) Act, 1922 enacted both by the Third Dáil meeting as a constituent assembly and by the Parliament of the United Kingdom and brought into force by a royal proclamation of 6 December 1922.
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The role of the Governor-General in legislative enactment was initially defined in the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed in 1921 between plenipotentiaries of the UDI Irish Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and which was ratified by three bodies; the United Kingdom parliament, the Second Dáil and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland in December 1921 – January 1922.
The reason for royal assent
All legislation enacted by the Oireachtas of Saorstát Éireann required royal assent to become law for three reasons.
Article 12 stated that the Oireachtas consisted "of the King and two Houses, the Chamber of Deputies (... "Dáil Éireann") and the Senate (... "Seanad Éireann")". As a result the King through his representative, the Governor-General, was a full participant in law making.
In the event of a dispute the signature of the Governor-General on the Act was evidence that it had been fully and validly enacted. This could prove important were in the future a dispute to arise over whether a particular Act had properly been enacted. An example would be where the Dáil was dissolved the same day as the bill completed its passage. If it had not already received royal assent prior to the dissolution the bill would fall (i.e., die). The existence of the Governor-General's signature would act as proof that the bill had received its royal assent before the dissolution, even if only by one minute.
All Acts of the Oireachtas in the Free State were translated into the two state languages, Irish and English. Whichever the Governor-General signed into law would receive primacy in the event of a clash in the texts. (Article 42)
Granting, reserving or withholding royal assent
As with the King and other governors-general in the other Dominions, the Governor-General of the Irish Free State had three options:
The granting of royal assent, meaning that a bill became an act;
The reserve of royal assent "for His Majesty's Pleasure" meaning that the bill was put into abeyance pending approval of the bill by the King-in-Council within one year of the bill having been presented to the Governor-General. If approval was not given within one year the bill was deemed vetoed;
The withholding of royal assent, which meant that the bill was being vetoed.
Between 1922 and 1928 the Governor-General acted as the agent of both the King and the British Government. As a result, he could act on the advice of either, or on his own initiative withholding or refusing Assent.
Unknown to the Executive Council (His Majesty's Government in the Irish Free State) the first Governor-General, Timothy Michael Healy, was given instructions to exercise the withholding and refusal powers by the United Kingdom Secretary of State for the Dominions, in a number of specific areas:
The passage of a bill that conflicted with the Anglo-Irish Treaty; The passage of a constitutional amendment to abolish the Oath of Allegiance to the Irish Free State (which included as subsidiary promise of fidelity to the King).
Neither of these scenarios occurred during the term of office of Governor-General Healy. By the time his successor, James McNeill, took office in 1928, the Balfour Declaration had changed Commonwealth policy such that the Governors-General of the Irish Free State and the other Dominions would receive advice only from their own Governments, and not from the Imperial Government in London. Though theoretically he could have done so, the third Governor-General, Domhnall Ua Buachalla, chose not to veto the 1933 Act that abolished the Oath of Allegiance.