CALL FOR PAPERS: The Irish Constitution: Past, Present and Future

The Constitutional Studies Group at University College Dublin invites submissions for a conference on “The Irish Constitution: Past, Present and Future”. The conference is being organised to mark the 75th anniversary of the enactment of the current Irish Constitution and will take place in Dublin between June 28th and 30th, 2012.


The conference line-up will feature a range of distinguished speakers from Ireland and other jurisdictions. Confirmed participants so far include:
• The Chief Justice of Ireland, the Hon. Mrs. Justice Susan Denham
• The Hon. Mr. Justice Donal O'Donnell of the Supreme Court
• Prof. Philip Pettit (Princeton)

• Prof. Mark Tushnet (Harvard)

• Prof. Cheryl Saunders (Melbourne)

• Prof. Deirdre Curtin (Amsterdam)

• Prof Gerry Whyte (TCD)

• Prof. Martin Loughlin (LSE)

• Dr. Aileen Kavanagh (Oxford)

• Dr. Colm O’Cinneide (UCL)

The conference organisers welcome proposals from all disciplines on any topic relevant to Irish constitutionalism. Proposed papers are not required to focus on Irish law alone. The organisers particularly welcome submissions from a comparative, conceptual or inter-disciplinary perspective.

The organisers also welcome submissions from early career researchers. A small number of bursaries are available to cover the travel costs of researchers who have been conferred with their most recent qualification in the five years before June 1 2012 and whose proposals are regarded by the organisers as a leading example of innovative research.

Possible areas of interest might include:

• The implications of the IMF/EU bailout for domestic constitutionalism

• The European Union, the Constitution and the Irish courts

• Calls for constitutional reform in Ireland: economic crisis as a constitutional moment?

• How to organise a process of constitutional reform

• Property rights and the property crash: is there a relationship between constitutional theory and economic policy?

• Republican thought and the 1937 Constitution

• Popular sovereignty and the use of the referendum in Ireland

• The relationship between the common law and a written Constitution

• Ireland’s relationship with the Commonwealth between 1921 and 1937

• Defining the state: National identity and territorial claims under the 1937 Constitution

• The influence of religion and religious identity on Irish constitutional law

• The 1937 Constitution and its commitment to the idea of natural law

• The right to education in the Irish Constitution and the judicial enforcement of socio-economic entitlements

• The relationship between the Irish and Indian Constitutions

• The influence of American constitutional thought on Irish constitutionalism

• The horizontal application of constitutional rights: lessons from the Irish experience?

Persons interested in participating in the event should submit an abstract of no more than 800 words together with a covering letter and CV. Submissions should be made to ucd2012@gmail.com.

Early career researchers should state in their covering letter if they wish to be considered for a travel bursary. They should also include a short explanation of why they feel they should be provided with one of the available bursaries.

Submissions should be received by February 29th, 2012.

Once a selection is made by the organisers, final papers must be submitted by June 1st, 2012.