Ireland has no formalhonours system.[1] Proposals to introduce one have been made by various groups at different times. TheOrder of St. Patrick, established by the British monarchy in theKingdom of Ireland in 1783, has been in abeyance for decades. TheConstitution of Ireland mandates that "Titles ofnobility shall not be conferred by the State",[2] and honours are not issued directly by theGovernment of Ireland.
As with military and police forces in other jurisdictions, medals and decorations are issued by theIrish Defence Forces andGarda Síochána, including for distinguished service, operational service, long service, and commemorative purposes.[3] Service and commemorative medals are also issued by civilian and volunteer groups.
Irish republicans were opposed to theBritish honours system from bothIrish nationalist antipathy to its Britishness andrepublican opposition to its monarchist underpinnings. TheAct of Union 1800's passage through theParliament of Ireland was, notoriously, helped by the offer to legislators of British and Irish peerages and other honours; the 1783 introduction of the Order of St. Patrick was a similar source ofpatronage and compliance.[4][5]
Article 5 ofthe 1922 Constitution of theIrish Free State read:[6]
The original draft prepared for theProvisional Government had stated more baldly, "No title of honour may be conferred by the State on any citizen of Saorstát Éireann", but the British insisted on adding the exception in order to preserve a theoreticalroyal prerogative.[5]Geoffrey Browne, 3rd Baron Oranmore and Browne felt that even the revised wording "ought not to have been considered by either House [at Westminster] until a gracious Message had been received from the Sovereign stating that he placed at the disposal of the House his rights with respect to the conferring of honours".[7]
In addition to a ban on new titles, the drafting committee had envisaged a phasing-out of existing peerage titles, but the Provisional Government removed that to conciliate southern unionists such asLord Midleton.[5] In the debate on Article 5 in theThird Dáil/Provisional Parliament,[o 1]Darrell Figgis proposed an absolute prohibition, alluding to thecontemporary scandal surrounding the sale of British peerages.[4]Kevin O'Higgins countered:
The Free State was established on 6 December 1922 as aDominion, with aGovernor-General representing the British king in his capacity asFree State monarch. Article 5 of the Constitution was called into question whenThe London Gazette's list of the UK's1925 New Year Honours included "Thomas Francis Molony formerlyLord Chief Justice of Ireland" and "James O'Connor, formerly aLord Justice of Appeal in Ireland",[8] positions they held untilabolished in 1924.[9] In answer to aparliamentary question,W. T. Cosgrave said their honours were "not conferred in respect of services rendered in or in relation to Saorstát Eireann".[o 2]
In December 1929,Ernest Blythe proposed establishing a "Legion of Saint Patrick", with Members, Officers, and Commanders. The Legion's establishment and constituent Statutes would be made by the King underletters patent; the Governor-General would be Head of the Legion during his term of office and a Commander thereafter. Theinvestiture of new members with the Cross of the Legion would occur annually on 6 December. In July 1930 theCumann na nGaedheal government considered draft letters patent drawn up by theDepartment of External Affairs and agreed to make informal talks with the British Government; no further action ensued.[10]
The1932 general election returneda Fianna Fáil government "strongly opposed to the establishment of any decoration or order".[11] Before the1932 Eucharistic Congress opened in Dublin,Charles Bewley, Irish ambassador to theHoly See, warned that offence would be taken if no honour were conferred on thepapal legate who would open the conference,Lorenzo Lauri.[12] The government did not alter its policy, although its overall support for the Congress satisfied the Vatican.[13][11]
Between April 1924 and December 1926 seven knights of the Order of St. Patrick died.[4] The British government felt obliged, before filling the accrued vacancies, to consult the Free State's Executive Council.[4]Bernard Forbes, 8th Earl of Granard, a member of both the Order and theFree State Senate, raised the matter, andJohn A. Costello, theAttorney-General, advised the Executive Council that in light of the1926 Imperial Conference the Order was an Irish competence; in 1928 the Council decided "that the Order, being now moribund, should be allowed completely to disappear".[4] While monarchs continued to appoint members of theBritish royal family to the Order in the 1930s, no other appointments were made,[4] andthe last Knight died in 1974.[14]Éamon de Valera andSeán Lemass both considered reviving the Order, with Lemass allowingBrian Lenihan to float the idea in 1960,[14] althoughFine Gael was opposed.[15] After theNorthern Ireland peace process and theBelfast Agreement, media reported suggestions that the Order be awarded jointly by thePresident of Ireland and theBritish monarch in recognition of work to improveBritish–Irish relations.[16] This received support from journalistsJim Duffy[14] andMary Kenny.[17]
Article 40, section 2 of the Constitution states in full:
The draft Constitutionintroduced to the Dáil in 1937 originally included a second sentence in subsection 1°:[18]
In thecommittee stage, the whole of section 2 was proposed for deletion byFrank MacDermot.[o 3] He andWilliam Norton expressed opposition to an Order of Merit, and suggested that the FrenchLegion of Honour was used to reward political cronies.[o 3]Éamon de Valera, thePresident of the Executive Council and chief architect of the Constitution, responded:[o 3]
At recommittal the following week, de Valera proposed the deletion of the second sentence of Article 40.2.1°, which was agreed.[o 4]
TheUlster King of Arms continued to issuegrants of arms across all Ireland until 1943, when the functions of the office were taken over by the Norroy King of Arms and restricted to Northern Ireland.[19] In the Republic from 1943 the Chief Herald of Ireland has been part of theGenealogical Office and continues to grant arms to individuals andcorporate persons.[19][20] Until 2003 the office also recognisedChiefs of the Name as senior knownpatrilineal descendant of aclan chief inmedieval Gaelic Ireland.[19] This was discontinued in 2003 after irregularities in the process were publicised; the Herald's announcement stated:[21]
In 1998, the All-PartyOireachtas Committee on theConstitution noted that the question of a state honours system had "been raised in a desultory manner by governments since 1930".[22]Dáil questions were asked byPatrick O'Donnell in 1954;[o 5]Seán Moore in 1976[o 6] and 1981;[o 7]Michael O'Leary in 1981;[o 8]Gay Mitchell in 1986;[o 9]Bernard Durkan in June[o 10] and October 1988,[o 11] 1991,[o 12] February[o 13] and July 1992,[o 14] and 1994;[o 15] andMichael Bell in 1991.[o 16] The usual response was that all-party consensus was not forthcoming. In 1986,TaoiseachGarret FitzGerald suggested the party whips might discuss the issue.[o 9] TheDepartment of the Taoiseach file on Bell's question, released in 2021 under thethirty-year rule, pointed out thatBob Geldof, a prominent Irish recipient of an honorary British KBE, had derided the idea of an Irish honours system, and that there was widespread public suspicion that politicians would abuse any honours system to reward cronies.[23]
TheGaisce President's Award scheme for young people was established in 1985 by theFine Gael–Labour government, based on a pilot scheme introduced in 1982 by theprevious Fianna Fáil government.Charles Haughey stated:[o 17]
Garret FitzGerald denied the allegation that the Gaisce committee was party-biased.[o 17] In 1988, after Haugheyhad returned to power, he stated "As indicated previously in this House, the matter of an honours system is not under consideration".[o 10]
The Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution's 1998 report recommended that thePresident be empowered to award honours after consultation with theCouncil of State.[24] This would require aconstitutional amendment,[14] because although the Constitution allows the Oireachtas to grant extra powers to the President, these can only be exercised on the advice of thecabinet, as opposed to the Council of State.[25] In June 1998,Ruairi Quinn said "opposition to an honours system in the past arose out of the sense that it conveyed some kind of quasi-aristocratic benediction on the recipient. However, we have now come of age and can examine it with the self-confidence of the time."[o 18] In December 1998,[o 19] Ruairi Quinn asked "Does the Taoiseach share a concern which seems to form part of the thinking behind the recommendations in the committee's report that politicians cannot be trusted with the allocation of any kind of honours system?" to whichBertie Ahern responded, "I presume the thinking is to refer the matter to the Council of State. We do not have to do that given that in every other area the President acts on the advice of the Executive, the Executive takes the advice of the House." In 1999, theDepartment of the Taoiseach drew up a discussion document which Ahern circulated in September to Fine Gael andLabour.[15][o 20] In November discussions took place between party nominees:Séamus Brennan forFianna Fáil,Maurice Manning for Fine Gael andMichael Ferris for Labour.[o 21] The discussion paper, having examined other countries' systems, proposed the President bestowing a medal and parchment certificate on the recommendation of an independent panel.[15] However, discussion broke down as Fianna Fáil wanted the government to be allowed to make recommendations, which the Opposition parties objected to on the basis that it would politicise the process.[15]
The issue has continued to crop up in the 2000s. In 2003, Bertie Ahern suggested that the Oireachtas Committee on Procedure and Privilege should set up a sub-committee chaired by theMinister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to examine the question.[o 22]Paul Connaughton Snr in 2004[o 23] andDan Neville in 2005[o 24] raised the question of state honours for members of theIrish diaspora.Brian O'Shea recommended recognition for "people from the community voluntary sector".[o 25]Finian McGrath raised the matter in 2006.[o 26]
Bertie Ahern supported the idea of introducing an honours scheme in media interviews after golferPádraig Harrington had won the2007 British Open.[26] On 20 November, in response toDáil questions, Ahern stated that any scheme would require cross-party consensus, that he had distributed a discussion paper in 1999, and that other party leaders had agreed to raise the question with their colleagues.[o 27] Points raised in the discussion included the UKCash for Honours scandal and the fear of actual or perceived political bias in deciding whom to honour.[o 27] Further discussion on 12 December.[o 28] In 2009Finian McGrath asked for update on the matter;Brian Cowen said one party had not replied from 2007.[o 29] A 2011 question produced a similar response.[o 30]
In 2012, the government announced theDistinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad and said it would "consider proposals for a similar mechanism for recognising the distinguished service of those resident within Ireland".[27] In 2015, SenatorFeargal Quinn introduced aprivate member's bill to establish an award called "Gradam an Uachtaráin", to be bestowed by the President on the nomination of an Awarding Council subject to the veto of the Government.[28] The bill lapsed after the2016 dissolution and election.[29]
In 2023, a bill modelled on Quinn's was reintroduced in the Seanad bythe Independent group and given qualified support on behalf ofthe Fine Gael–Fianna Fáil–Green government by junior ministerHildegarde Naughton.[30][31]
Article 40.2.2° of the Constitution states "No title of nobility or of honour may be accepted by any citizen except with the prior approval of the Government." In 1991, there was no record of any such request having been made.[o 31] In the ten years to 2004, two people applied for permission:Tony O'Reilly for aBritish knighthood, andJohn F. Coyne for aMalaysianPanglima Jasa Negara. Both were approved.[o 32] There were two requests in 2005, one in 2008, two in 2013 and two in 2014 by 1 July.[o 33] Between 9 March 2014 and 10 November 2015, approval was given for four UK knighthoods and onedamehood, and toAnthony Bailey for theOrder of Grenada;[32] two Antigua and BarbudaOrder of the Nation awards (one also to Bailey[32]) had already been made when the government was informed; these were "noted" rather than approved, with the government emphasising that this prior approval ought to have been sought.[o 34] O'Reilly and Bailey havedual citizenship of Ireland and the UK.[32] The awards made to Bailey were subsequently rescinded but his website continues to imply that certain of his awards and decorations have been approved by the Irish Government.[32] The cabinet considered six further awards, all from the UK, between 2016 and 2023: two were approved,[33][o 35] includingLouise Richardson,[33] to whom PresidentMichael D. Higgins later apologised for "clumsily calling out her title asdame of the British Empire".[34] The other four had already been conferred, withMicheál Martin, theMinister for Foreign Affairs noting "No facility exists for retrospective approval by the Government in these instances and currently there are no penalties or other sanctions for failing to obtain prior approval of the Government".[o 35][33]
Inheritors of foreign titles would not need the approval of the Government as they areincorporeal hereditaments.[citation needed] but neither are these officially recognised in Ireland although they may be used socially out of courtesy.Edward Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford andSir John Keane, 5th Baronet as members of the5th Seanad were referred to in its official proceedings as "the Earl of Longford" and "Sir John Keane" respectively.[o 36]
Between 1980 and 1991 there were 175 inquiries from foreign governments about awarding decorations other than titles to Irish citizens.[o 31] These do not fall within Article 40.2.2°, and the government raised no objections to any.[o 31]
A 2005 article in theSunday Times afterThe Corrs had acceptedMBEs, noted an increase in the number of recent Irish recipients of British awards, namingDaniel O'Donnell,Niall Quinn,Pierce Brosnan,Pat Eddery, andOrla Guerin; observing "the more gongs the British send across the Irish Sea, the less likely it is that the issue [of an Irish honours system] will go away".[15] In 2003,Michael Finucane had called for an Irish honours system whenChristina Noble received an award from thePrince of Wales.[35] The same year, Bertie Ahern said, "Irish people who achieve something significant in their walk of life must go to other jurisdictions to get their awards. That is wrong. An awards system should not be based on a system of monarchy or anything else. It is only an awards system."[o 22]
Awards by other countries to Irish citizens include the U.S.Presidential Medal of Freedom toMary Robinson in 2009,[36] the FrenchLegion of Honour tomultiple people, anddynastic orders such asorders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See.[37]
Some existing award schemes are run or supported by the state in Ireland and these include:
| Honour | Notes |
|---|---|
| Aosdána /Saoi | Aosdána is a self-selecting group of up to 250 artists, of whom up to seven have the titleSaoi |
| Comhairle na Míre Gaile | Recognising deeds of bravery to save life |
| Scott Medal | ForGarda Síochána personnel |
| Military awards and decorations | ForDefence Forces personnel |
| Michael Heffernan Memorial Award | Marine gallantry[38] |
| Gaisce – The President's Award | Young people aged 15–25 |
| Honorary citizenship | Seelist of honorary citizens of Ireland. |
Other honours or distinctions have also been compared to honours systems:
| Honour | Notes |
|---|---|
| Honorary degrees ofIrish third level institutions | Mentioned by Mary Kenny[17] and John Burns[15] |
| Freedom of a city or town | Mentioned by Ruairi Quinn[o 19] and John Burns.[15]Noel Ahern specifically mentionedfreedom of the City of Dublin.[o 25] TheLocal Government Act 2001 authorises the continued award of such honours by local councils.[39] |
| Depiction on a postage stamp | A spokeswoman forAn Post said in 2010, "In a country like Ireland that doesn't have an honours system, being on a stamp is the highest honour the public can bestow."[40] SeeList of people on stamps of Ireland. |
| Invitation to address theOireachtas orDáil Éireann | Noted by Ruairi Quinn.[o 19] Seelist of addresses to the Oireachtas. |
| Honorary consuls | Bernard Durkan in 1994 suggested as an honour for Irish Americans.[o 15] |
Opposition politicians and others,[41] in criticising actual or potential government appointments to the boards of public andstate-sponsored bodies, have on occasion described the practice as a kind of ersatz honours system to reward party loyalists or personal friends of ministers. Such claims have been made byPat Rabbitte,[42]Gay Mitchell (in relation to the Office of Tobacco Control[o 37] and theVoluntary Health Insurance Board[o 38]), andJim Mitchell (in relation to theNational Treasury Management Agency[o 39]) The analogy was rejected by ministersJohn O'Donoghue (in relation toFáilte Ireland[o 40]) andMicheál Martin.[o 37]
Awards by private organisations include thePeople of the Year Awards and theOrder of Clans of Ireland.
Several proposed awards relate tovolunteerism oractive citizenship which contributes to the local community. A 2005 review of theFianna Fáil–Progressive Democrat government's programme proposed "National Volunteer Awards on the lines of the Gaisce Awards".[43] The March 2007 report of the Taskforce on Active Citizenship chaired byMary Davis said:[44]
TheFianna Fáil–Green Party government's programme after the2007 election endorsed this recommendation.[o 27] Bertie Ahern clarified that these awards were "entirely different from the State awards system" he envisaged.[o 27] He said the government was negotiating the details of the scheme with the President's office.[o 28] In April 2009, it was reported that the Active Citizenship Office planned to have the system in place within three years.[45] In July 2009, theMcCarthy Report, on government cuts in response to thepost-2008 economic downturn, recommended closing the Active Citizenship Office, and this was done from the next tax year.[46]
OnSaint Patrick's Day 2012,Eamon Gilmore, the thenMinister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, announced thatthe Fine Gael–Labour government had decided to create a "Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad".[27] The President confers the award annually, to a maximum of ten "people living abroad who have given sustained and distinguished service to Ireland".[27] According to the original press release at least one person is to "be chosen from the following sectors: Irish community support; the arts, culture and sport; charitable works; business and education; peace, reconciliation and development work".[27] Awards are conferred annually in a process administered by theDepartment of Foreign Affairs.[47]
TheIrish Defence Forces issue a range of decorations for gallantry, distinguished service, operational deployments, and long service.[48] Among the most notable of these is theMilitary Medal for Gallantry andDistinguished Service Medal.[48]
TheGarda Síochána, the national police service of Ireland, issues medals for UN peacekeeping service, long service, and some commemorative events.[49]
Civil Defence Ireland recognises service and commitment through its medal programme.[51]
TheIrish Prison Service recognises distinguished service, long service, and commemorative participation.
TheIrish Coast Guard and Department of Transport recognise gallantry at sea, meritorious service, and long service.
Local authority fire brigades issue national commemorative medals for firefighters.
Civilian gallantry awards are administered byComhairle na Míre Gaile (the Deeds of Bravery Council).[59]
We don't have an honours system in Ireland. In practice, this has become the honours system whereby party worthies are appointed to the boards of state monopolies, state organisations and quangos.
| Defence Forces Medals |  | |
|---|---|---|
| War of Independence Medals | ||
| Former Proposed Medals | ||
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_Commemoration_Medal.svg)
