Editing Ordinary referendum (section)

==Process==
Once a bill is passed by both houses of the Oireachtas, or passed by the Dáil and deemed to have been passed by the Seanad, it is sent to the President to be [[signing into law|signed into law]]. The President must wait five days before signing, unless the Seanad agrees to an expedited signature.<ref>Constitution of Ireland, Article 25.2,25.3</ref> This gives five days for the presentation of a petition under Article 27, to "request the President to decline to sign and promulgate as a law [the Bill,] on the ground that the Bill contains a proposal of such national importance that the will of the people thereon ought to be ascertained".<ref>Constitution of Ireland, Article 27.1</ref> Such a petition must be signed by a majority of the Seanad (i.e. at least 31 Senators) and at least one-third of the Dáil (currently 53 of 158 [[Teachta Dála|TD]]s). Signatures are validated by the chief or assistant [[Clerk (legislature)|clerk]] of the relevant house, or by a Justice of the [[District Court (Ireland)|District Court]], a [[Commissioner for Oaths]], or an officer of the [[Garda Síochána]] not below the rank of Superintendent.<ref name="act1944">{{cite web|url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1944/en/act/pub/0008/print.html|title=Constitution (Verification of Petition) Act, 1944|work=[[Irish Statute Book]]|access-date=24 June 2013}}</ref> Forging a signature is punishable as [[electoral fraud]].<ref name="act1944"/>

In considering the petition, the President must convene a meeting of the [[Council of State (Ireland)|Council of State]], which gives non-binding advice in the exercise of most of his discretionary powers. He may separately decide to refer the bill to the [[Supreme Court of Ireland|Supreme Court]] under [[Article 26 of the Constitution of Ireland|Article 26 of the Constitution]]; in which case, he will not consider the Article 27 petition until after the Court has stated that the bill is not repugnant to the Constitution.

The President has 10 days to decide on the petition, or 6 days if there was an Article 26 decision beforehand. If he rejects the petition, he simply signs the bill as normal; if he accepts it, he informs the [[Taoiseach]], [[Ceann Comhairle]] of the Dáil, and [[Cathaoirleach]] of the Seanad in writing. The Constitution specifies that one of two things may happen within 18 months of the decision to refer the bill to the people:
* an ordinary referendum approves the bill; or
* a [[Elections in the Republic of Ireland|general election]] is held, followed by a [[Resolution (law)|resolution]] of the Dáil approving the bill. The intervening general election is presumed to have given the same [[mandate (politics)|mandate]] for the bill that an ordinary referendum would have given.

If either happens, the President must then sign the bill. If neither happens, the bill lapses by default. The authority to decide whether to hold a referendum is vested in the [[Government of Ireland|Government]] by the Referendum Act 1994.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1994/en/act/pub/0012/sec0012.html#sec12|title=Referendum Act, 1994, Section 12(1)(b)|work=[[Irish Statute Book]]|access-date=24 June 2013}}</ref>