ABSTRACT
Community institutions have continued to make laws that either apply directly in Ireland or necessitate compliance by the Irish government and parliament by the enactment of appropriate domestic legislation. Community law, to which Irish law, including Bunreacht na hEireann, must be adapted, adds another dimension to the framework of limited government within which the Irish government operates. The desire to limit the power of public authorities and to define the rights and duties of the citizens is a characteristic feature of the liberal-democratic world. The provisions for political organization and procedures expanded the sketchy arrangements of the Dail Constitution considerably, quite closely the existing British patterns. The basis of all governmental authority, including the authority to enact the Constitution itself and to change it, is the people. In general, the machinery of government provided for in Bunreacht na hEireann followed the British model, and the similarity is the greater because of the persistence of similar working practices.
