Ceann Comhairle

The (; "Head of [the] Council"; plural usually ) is the chairperson (or speaker) This is provided for in section 36 of the Electoral Act 1992. As a consequence, the constituency that an incumbent Ceann Comhairle represents elects one fewer TD in a general election than its usual entitlement, but still has the same number of TDs. Under standing orders, no member of the government or Minister of State may act as Ceann Comhairle or Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

The Ceann Comhairle does not take part in debates, nor do they vote except in the event of a tie. In this event, they generally vote in accordance with the parliamentary conventions relating to the Speaker of the British House of Commons, which tend to amount to voting against motions. The Ceann Comhairle formally opens each day's sitting by reading the official prayer. The Ceann Comhairle is the sole judge of order in the house and has a number of special functions. Specifically, the Ceann Comhairle:

Calls on members to speak. All speeches must be addressed to the Ceann Comhairle.
Puts such questions to the house, and supervises and declares the results of divisions.
Has authority to suppress disorder. To ensure obedience to their rulings the Ceann Comhairle may order members to withdraw from the Dáil or suspend an individual from the House for a period. In the case of great disorder, the Ceann Comhairle can suspend or adjourn the house.
Rings a bell when deputies are out of order. The bell is a half-sized reproduction of the ancient bell of Lough Lene Castle found at Castle Island, Lough Lene, Castlepollard, County Westmeath in 1881 and now in the National Museum. The reproduction was presented in 1931 by the widow of Bryan Cooper, a former TD.

The Ceann Comhairle is an member of the Presidential Commission, the Council of State, and the Commission for Public Service Appointments.

Since the 1937 Constitution, the Ceann Comhairle has been an member of the Council of State, beginning with Frank Fahy. The earlier presiding officers never served on the Council of State: i.e. those of the Revolutionary Dáil (1919–1922: Cathal Brugha, George Noble Plunkett, Eoin MacNeill, and Michael Hayes) and the Free State Dáil (1922–1936: Hayes again, before Fahy).

History

The position of Ceann Comhairle was created on the first day of the Dáil on 21 January 1919, when it was first established as a breakaway revolutionary parliament. The first Ceann Comhairle was Cathal Brugha, who served for only one day, presiding over the Dáil's first meeting, before leaving the post to become President of Dáil Éireann. The office was continued under the 1922–1937 Irish Free State, the constitution of which referred to the office-holder as the "Chairman of Dáil Éireann". The practice of automatically re-electing the Ceann Comhairle in a general election was introduced by a constitutional amendment in 1927. The outgoing Ceann Comhairle is returned at the election for their former party.

Following the abolition on 11 December 1936 of the office of Governor-General, the Ceann Comhairle was assigned some of the former office's ceremonial functions, including signing bills into law and convening and dissolving the Dáil. These powers were transferred to the new office of President of Ireland when a new Constitution came into force on 29 December 1937, being carried out by the Presidential Commission, which included the Ceann Comhairle, until the first president entered office on 25 June 1938. The new Constitution retained the position of Ceann Comhairle and the practice of automatic re-election.

Patrick Hogan retired due to ill health in 1967, and died in 1969 before the following election. Joseph Brennan died in office in 1980.

John O'Donoghue resigned the office in 2009 after an expenses scandal. As an ordinary TD he was no longer entitled to be returned automatically at 2011 general election, in which he lost his seat.

The Ceann Comhairle was first elected by secret ballot in 2016.

Following the 2024 general election, a group of Independent TDs requested that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael support Verona Murphy becoming Ceann Comhairle as a condition of their support for government formation. The request was accepted and with their backing, Murphy won the 2024 Ceann Comhairle election. In doing so, Murphy became the first woman to ever hold the role. However, the move was criticised, particularly by the Opposition parties, as traditionally the Ceann Comhairle is supposed to neutral and unaligned in the Dáil. Critics suggested Murphy would have to be loyal to the government if she owed her position to their support.

On 1 April 2025, a vote of confidence was held in a Ceann Comhairle for the first time. This arose in response to the speaking rights dispute. The motion of confidence in Verona Murphy was agreed by a vote of 96 to 71, with 2 abstentions.

Rules for election

Under the rules for the election of the Ceann Comhairle, introduced during the 31st Dáil, candidates must be nominated by at least seven other members of Dáil Éireann. Each member may nominate only one candidate. Nominations must be submitted to the Clerk of the Dáil by not later than 6 p.m. on the day before the first day the Dáil meets after the general election in order to be valid, but may be withdrawn at any time up to the close of nominations. If no candidate wins a majority on first preferences, the individual with the fewest votes will be eliminated and their votes redistributed in accordance with their next highest preference, under the alternative vote voting system. Eliminations and redistributions will continue until one member receives the requisite absolute majority. Then, the House will vote on a formal motion to appoint the member in question to the position of Ceann Comhairle. The Clerk of the Dáil will be the presiding officer of the House during the election process.

List of office-holders

Ceann Comhairle

For each Ceann Comhairle, this tables lists the number of the Dáil, the period in which they held office, their constituencies and their political affiliation immediately prior to their appointment.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!Dáil

!Name

!Portrait

!colspan=2|Term of office

!colspan=2|Party

!Constituency

!Ref

|rowspan=3|1st

|Cathal Brugha

|21 January 1919

|22 January 1919

|Waterford County

|George Noble Plunkett

|22 January 1919

|Roscommon North

|Seán T. O'Kelly

|22 January 1919

|16 August 1921

|Dublin College Green

|2nd

|Eoin MacNeill

|16 August 1921

|9 September 1922

|Londonderry National University

|3rd

|rowspan=4|Michael Hayes

|rowspan=4|70px

|rowspan=4|9 September 1922

|rowspan=4|9 March 1932

|rowspan=4|National University

|4th

|5th

|6th

|7th

|rowspan=7|Frank Fahy

|rowspan=7|

|rowspan=7|9 March 1932

|rowspan=7|13 June 1951

|rowspan=2|Galway

|8th

|9th

|rowspan=4|Galway East

|10th

|11th

|12th

|13th

|Galway South

|14th

|rowspan=5|Patrick Hogan

|rowspan=5|70px

|rowspan=5|13 June 1951

|rowspan=5|7 November 1967

|rowspan=5|Clare

|15th

|16th

|17th

|rowspan=2|18th

|rowspan=2|Cormac Breslin

|rowspan=2|70px

|rowspan=2|14 November 1967

|rowspan=2|14 March 1973

|Donegal South-West

|19th

|Donegal–Leitrim

|20th

|Seán Treacy

|70px

|14 March 1973

|5 July 1977

|Tipperary South

|rowspan=2|21st

|Joseph Brennan

|5 July 1977

|13 July 1980

|Donegal

|Pádraig Faulkner

|70px

|16 October 1980

|30 June 1981

|Louth

|22nd

|rowspan=2|John O'Connell

|rowspan=2|70px

|rowspan=2|30 June 1981

|rowspan=2|14 December 1982

|rowspan=2|Dublin South-Central

|23rd

|24th

|Tom Fitzpatrick

|70px

|14 December 1982

|10 March 1987

|Cavan–Monaghan

|25th

|rowspan=3|Seán Treacy

|rowspan=3|70px

|rowspan=3|10 March 1987

|rowspan=3|26 June 1997

|rowspan=3|Tipperary South

|26th

|27th

|28th

|Séamus Pattison

|70px

|26 June 1997

|6 June 2002

|Carlow–Kilkenny

|29th

|Rory O'Hanlon

|6 June 2002

|14 June 2007

|Cavan–Monaghan

|rowspan=2|30th

|John O'Donoghue

|14 June 2007

|13 October 2009

|Kerry South

|Séamus Kirk

|70px

|13 October 2009

|9 March 2011

|Louth

|31st

|Seán Barrett

|9 March 2011

|10 March 2016

|Dún Laoghaire

|32nd

|rowspan=2|Seán Ó Fearghaíl

|rowspan=2|

|rowspan=2|10 March 2016

|rowspan=2|18 December 2024

|rowspan=2|Kildare South

|33rd

|34th

|Verona Murphy

|18 December 2024

|Incumbent

|Wexford

Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Leas-Cheann Comhairle holds office as the deputy chairperson of Dáil Éireann under Article 15.9.1 of the constitution. In the absence of the Ceann Comhairle, the Leas-Cheann Comhairle deputises and performs the duties and exercises the authority of the Ceann Comhairle in Dáil proceedings. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle is also elected by secret ballot. The current Leas-Cheann Comhairle is Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness. Traditionally, the position was reserved for an Opposition TD. The role carries the pay and status as a Minister of State.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!Dáil

!Name

!Portrait

!colspan=2|Term of office

!colspan=2|Party

!Constituency

!Ref

|1st

|John J. O'Kelly

|1 April 1919

|26 August 1921

|Louth

|2nd

|Brian O'Higgins

|26 August 1921

|28 February 1922

|Clare

|3rd

|rowspan=2|Pádraic Ó Máille

|rowspan=2|

|rowspan=2|6 December 1922

|rowspan=2|23 May 1927

|rowspan=2|Galway

|4th

|5th

|James Dolan

|70px

|1 July 1927

|25 August 1927

|Leitrim–Sligo

|rowspan=2|6th

|Patrick Hogan

|70px

|27 October 1927

|8 March 1928

|Clare

|Daniel Morrissey

|2 May 1928

|29 January 1932

|Tipperary

|7th

|rowspan=3|Patrick Hogan

|rowspan=3|70px

|rowspan=3|15 March 1932

|rowspan=3|27 May 1938

|rowspan=3|Clare

|8th

|9th

|rowspan=2|10th

|Fionán Lynch

|70px

|5 July 1938

|12 May 1939

|Kerry South

|Eamonn O'Neill

|70px

|31 May 1939

|31 May 1943

|Cork West

|11th

|rowspan=2|Daniel McMenamin

|rowspan=2|70px

|rowspan=2|20 October 1943

|rowspan=2|12 January 1948

|rowspan=2|Donegal East

|12th

|13th

|Patrick Hogan

|70px

|25 February 1948

|7 May 1951

|Clare

|14th

|rowspan=5|Cormac Breslin

|rowspan=5|70px

|rowspan=5|4 July 1951

|rowspan=5|7 November 1967

|rowspan=3|Donegal West

|15th

|16th

|17th

|rowspan=2|Donegal South-West

|rowspan=2|18th

|rowspan=3|Denis Jones

|rowspan=3|70px

|rowspan=3|15 November 1967

|rowspan=3|5 July 1977

|rowspan=3|Limerick West

|19th

|20th

|21st

|Seán Browne

|70px

|6 July 1977

|30 June 1981

|Wexford

|22nd

|rowspan=2|Jim Tunney

|rowspan=2|70px

|rowspan=2|7 July 1981

|rowspan=2|14 December 1982

|rowspan=2|Dublin North-West

|23rd

|24th

|John Ryan

|70px

|15 December 1982

|10 March 1987

|Tipperary North

|25th

|rowspan=2|Jim Tunney

|rowspan=2|70px

|rowspan=2|24 March 1987

|rowspan=2|4 January 1993

|rowspan=2|Dublin North-West

|26th

|27th

|Joe Jacob

|70px

|10 February 1993

|26 June 1997

|Wicklow

|28th

|Rory O'Hanlon

|9 July 1997

|6 June 2002

|Cavan–Monaghan

|29th

|Séamus Pattison

|70px

|18 June 2002

|14 June 2007

|Carlow–Kilkenny

|30th

|Brendan Howlin

|26 June 2007

|9 March 2011

|Wexford

|31st

|Michael Kitt

|70px

|31 March 2011

|10 March 2016

|Galway East

|32nd

|Pat "the Cope" Gallagher

|7 July 2016

|14 January 2020

|Donegal

|33rd

|Catherine Connolly

|23 July 2020

|8 November 2024

|Galway West

|34th

|John McGuinness

|19 February 2025

|Incumbent

|Carlow–Kilkenny

Footnotes

References

Sources

Citations

External links

Lough Lene Bell, maquette photo

History

Rules for election

List of office-holders

Ceann Comhairle

Leas-Cheann Comhairle

See also

Footnotes

References

Sources

Citations

External links