Editing Ordinary referendum (section)

==Mooted petitions==
Although no petition to the President has ever been made under Article 27,<ref name="CoakleyGallagher2010">{{cite book|last=Gallagher|first=Michael|editor=John Coakley, Michael Gallagher|title=Politics in the Republic of Ireland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g84ajJ-1Yi4C&pg=PA223|edition=5th|year=2010|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9780415476713|page=223|chapter=The Oireachtas: President and Parliament}}</ref> there are several instances where the possibility of such a petition being made has entered the public debate about proposed bills.

Senator [[Michael O'Higgins]] intended to lodge a petition in relation to the Prohibition of [[Forcible Entry]] and Occupation Act 1971, in the light of [[Operation Demetrius]] in Northern Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/S/0071/S.0071.197108100003.html|title=Order of Business.|date=10 August 1971|work=Seanad Éireann debates|pages=Vol.71 c.3–4|access-date=23 June 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029191736/http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/S/0071/S.0071.197108100003.html|archive-date=29 October 2013}}</ref> When in 1974 O'Higgins demanded the [[Contraception in the Republic of Ireland#Ban on sales|Family Planning Bill]] be rejected as not having been put to the people, Senator [[Mary Robinson]] criticised him for not advocating the Article 27 procedure instead.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://debates.oireachtas.ie/seanad/1974/03/27/00005.asp#N41|title=Family Planning Bill, 1973: Second Stage (Resumed).|page=Vol. 77 No. 7 p.5 cc.645–6 |date=27 March 1974|work=Seanad Éireann debates|access-date=23 June 2013}}</ref>

[[David Norris (politician)|David Norris]] launched a petition regarding the Broadcasting Bill 1990. He stated that it was unlikely to receive enough signatures, but might convince the President to refer the bill to the Supreme Court under [[Article 26 of the Constitution of Ireland|Article 26 of the Constitution]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/DebatesWebPack.nsf/takes/seanad1990071800003#N220|title=Broadcasting Bill, 1990: Second Stage (Resumed).|date=18 July 1990|work=Seanad Éireann debates|pages=Vol. 126 No. 4 p.3 c.762|access-date=23 June 2013}}</ref>

[[Abortion in the Republic of Ireland]] is very controversial and has been the subject of multiple constitutional referendums. The 1992 [[X Case]] judgment found a limited right to abortion and a corresponding [[non-liquet|lacuna]] in statute law. Subsequent governments hesitated to address this for fear of voter backlash. When [[22nd Government of Ireland|the 1992 government]] introduced [[Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1992|a constitutional amendment to roll back the X-case judgment]], [[John Bruton]] suggested instead passing an ordinary statute to regulate the situation and using an Article 27 referendum.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/DebatesWebPack.nsf/takes/dail1992102700004#N235 |title=Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1992: Committee and Final Stages. |date=27 October 1992 |work=Dáil Éireann debates |page=Vol. 424 No. 4 p.4 cc.810–1 |access-date=26 June 2013}}</ref>  ''[[The Irish Times]]'' in 1995 reported attempts to have an Article 27 petition on the Regulation of Information (Services outside the State for Termination of Pregnancies) Bill, which eased the ban on publication of information about foreign abortion providers.<ref name="Hoganfn">Hogan ''et al.'' 2003, p.418, fn.</ref> The Bill [[Re the Regulation of Information (Services outside the State for Termination of Pregnancies) Bill|did have an Article 26 referral]], which found it to be Constitutional; but there was insufficient support in the Oireachtas for a petition.<ref name="Hoganfn"/>

In 1997, the [[Government of the 28th Dáil|then government]] considered the possibility of using Article 27 on legislation for the X-case judgment, on the basis that the extra [[Mandate (politics)|mandate]] of a popular vote would have forestalled complaints from anti-abortion campaigners if the Oireachtas had legislated in the normal manner.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://debates.oireachtas.ie/dail/1997/11/18/00013.asp#N39|title=Private Notice Questions. – Care of Rape Victim.|date=18 November 1997|work=Dáil Éireann debates|pages=Vol. 482 No. 8 p.13 cc.1532–6|access-date=26 June 2013}}</ref> The proposal was criticised as a misuse of the ordinary-referendum provision, which was intended to allow a group opposed to a bill to petition the President, rather than a government supporting a bill to do so. The idea was ultimately dropped because the minimum-turnout condition would have meant that a bill passed by the Oireachtas and rejected by a majority of voters on a low turnout would become law, exacerbating the controversy the idea was intended to forestall.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/govt-drops-proposal-to-petition-president-on-abortion-26200861.html|title=Govt drops proposal to petition President on abortion|date=12 December 1997|work=[[Irish Independent]]|access-date=23 June 2013}}</ref> Instead the government proposed both [[Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2002|a constitutional amendment]] and a separate non-amendment bill, the "Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Bill", but with the latter as a schedule to the former, so that a single referendum could approve both.<ref>[http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=1630 Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy) Bill, 2001] Oireachtas debates and text of bill</ref> A court-case questioned the legality of this, arguing that the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Bill should instead have been subject to a separate ordinary referendum. The [[High Court (Ireland)|High Court]] found the procedure to be acceptable.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ecolex.org/server2.php/libcat/docs/COU/Full/En/COU-156502.pdf |title=Judgment: Judicial review between Johanna Morris and Sian Ní Mhaoldomnaigh applicants and the Minister for the Environment and Local Government respondent |last=Kelly|first=J|date=1 February 2002|publisher=High Court|pages=2002/18JR|access-date=23 June 2013|location=Dublin}}</ref> In the event, the amendment was rejected at referendum so the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Bill was never introduced.

[[Brian Hayes (politician)|Brian Hayes]] said he would start a petition for the bill to [[Electronic voting in Ireland|trial electronic voting machines]] in the [[2002 Irish general election|2002 general election]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/S/0175/S.0175.200402250003.html|title=Order of Business.|date=25 February 2004|work=Seanad Éireann debates|pages=Vol.175 c.1086|access-date=23 June 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029191732/http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/S/0175/S.0175.200402250003.html|archive-date=29 October 2013}}</ref> [[Sinn Féin]] advocated a referendum on the 2009 bill establishing the [[National Asset Management Agency]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/sf-calls-for-nama-referendum-426324.html|title=SF calls for Nama referendum|date=14 September 2009|work=[[Irish Examiner]]|access-date=23 June 2013}}</ref>

In 2012, [[Government of the 31st Dáil|the government]] took some time to decide whether the ratification of the [[European Fiscal Compact]] would be passed by ordinary law or as a constitutional amendment. The opposition threatened to invoke Article 27 to force a referendum in the former case,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ireland-referendum-idUKTRE8101JV20120201|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306102033/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ireland-referendum-idUKTRE8101JV20120201|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 March 2016|title=Irish opposition push for EU treaty vote|last=Halpin|first=Padraic|date=1 February 2012|work=[[Reuters]]|access-date=23 June 2013}}</ref> which was one factor in the government's decision to [[Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland|use a constitutional amendment]], which was passed at referendum.

In 2013, the media reported that some government and opposition [[backbencher]]s were contemplating invoking Article 27 in relation to the [[Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013]], the government's bill to enforce the X-case judgment.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/tds-to-bring-abortion-legislation-to-referendum-598266.html|title=TDs to bring abortion legislation to referendum|date=23 June 2013|work=[[Irish Examiner]]|access-date=23 June 2013}}</ref>

[[Sinn Féin]], during controversy over [[Irish Water]], called on President [[Michael D. Higgins]] to refer the Water Services Bill 2014 to the people; the Office of the President responded that without the prescribed Oireachtas petition, he was unable to do so.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/president-higgins-ignores-pleas-and-signs-water-services-bill-into-law-1.2049900|title=President Higgins ignores pleas and signs Water Services Bill into law|last=Collins|first=Stephen|date=29 December 2014|work=[[The Irish Times]]|access-date=29 December 2014}}</ref>