The Irish Presidents

Although the office of the president of Ireland has attracted a great deal of public attention, especially since the accession of Mary Robinson in 1990, the topic has received little focus and has been the subject of only one book-length study in 1945. This elegant and informative collection fills the gap by bringing together a set of studies which explore the political role of the Irish presidency from a comparative perspective. The in-depth analysis covers a wide range of aspects of the presidency in Ireland, such as early presidents Douglas Hyde, Sean T. O'Kelly, and Eamon de Valera; gender politics in the Irish presidency, examining the roles and implications of Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese; and the recent bitter 2011 presidential election of Michael D. Higgins and its consequences for the future of the presidency in Ireland. Also examined are more theoretical aspects of the presidency, such as the role of the Irish president in the context of other presidents or heads of state, the prehistory of the Irish presidency, and the debate of the president as a constitutional and political figurehead, or as an office with little power and in need of transformative institutional reform.