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Constitutional Reform – 1998

After the Good Friday Agreement, the government of the Republic of Ireland passed the Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act (1998) on 3 June 1998 as required by the Good Friday Agreement.¹ Similarly, the British Government repealed the Government of Ireland Act (1920) in November 1998. The Northern Ireland Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 15 July 1998 and the bill had the third reading in the House of Lords on 17 November. The bill received the royal assent on 19 November 1998.²

After the constitutional amendment from the side of the Republic of Ireland and the enactment of the Northern Ireland Act (1998), the changes sought from the constitutional reform finally took effect on 1 December 1999. The Good Friday Agreement required the establishment of Northern Ireland’s Executive for this provision to go into effect.³

1. “Constitution of Ireland,” Department of the Taoiseach, accessed January 21, 2013
2. “Northern Ireland Bill Receives Royal Assent,” Hermes Database, November 19, 1998.
3. “The Good Friday Agreement – Constitutional Issues,” BBC News, May 2006, accessed January 21, 2013.