The meeting, which like all such meetings was secret, was convened to discuss among other resolutions, the articles of the Provisional IRA constitution which dealt with abstentionism, its opposition to the taking of seats in Dáil Éireann.

The GAC passed motions ( by the necessary two-thirds majority ) allowing members of the Provisional IRA to discuss and debate the taking of parliamentary seats, and the removal of the ban on members of the organisation from supporting any successful republican candidate who took their seat in Dáil Éireann.

In 2005, Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Michael McDowell told Dáil Éireann that the organisation had a maximum of 150 members.

On 21 January 1994, on the 75th anniversary of the First Dáil Éireann, Continuity IRA volunteers offered a " final salute " to Tom Maguire by firing over his grave, and a public statement and a photo were published in Saoirse Irish Freedom.

Irish coalition governments have traditionally been based on one of two large blocs in Dáil Éireann: either Fianna Fáil in coalition with smaller parties or independents, or Fine Gael and the Labour Party in coalition, sometimes with smaller parties.

The Government of the 31st Dáil, though a traditional Fine Gael – Labour coalition, resembles a grand coalition, due to the collapse of Fianna Fáil to third place among parties in Dáil Éireann.

It is composed of the President of Ireland, Seanad Éireann as the upper house, and Dáil Éireann as the lower house.

For elections to Dáil Éireann the city is divided into five constituencies: Dublin Central ( 4 seats ), Dublin North – Central ( 3 seats ), Dublin North-East ( 3 seats ), Dublin North – West ( 3 seats ), Dublin South – Central ( 5 seats ) and Dublin South – East ( 4 seats ).

# REDIRECT Dáil Éireann

The Conscription Crisis of 1918 further intensified public support for Sinn Féin before the general elections to the British Parliament on 14 December 1918, which resulted in a landslide victory for Sinn Féin, whose MPs gathered in Dublin on 21 January 1919 to form Dáil Éireann and adopt the Declaration of Independence.

In a policy document entitled New Politics, deputy Hogan has suggested creating a country with " a smaller, more dynamic and more responsive political system ," reducing the size of the Dáil by 20, changing the way the Dáil works, and in a controversial move, abolishing the Irish senate, Seanad Éireann.

Lowry, currently an independent TD, supported the Fianna Fáil – Green Party government in Dáil Éireann until March 2011.

It was the largest party in Dáil Éireann at every general election from the 1932 general election until the 2011 general election, when it suffered the worst defeat of a sitting government in the history of the Irish state, a loss described as " historic " in its proportions, where it saw its electoral support base diminished by 75 %, as a reaction to the intervention, and in the running of the Irish economy, of the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank in November 2010.

Glasnevin is part of the Dáil Éireann constituency of Dublin Central

It was named after Arthur Griffith who was the founder and third leader of Sinn Féin and also served as President of Dáil Éireann.

::: The President shall, on the nomination of Dáil Éireann, appoint the Taoiseach.

::: The President may in absolute discretion refuse to dissolve Dáil Éireann on the advice of a Taoiseach who has ceased to retain the support of a majority in Dáil Éireann.

Legislative power is vested in the Oireachtas, the bicameral national parliament, which consists of Dáil Éireann, Seanad Éireann and the President of Ireland.

* Dáil debate on Bloody Sunday

In the Dáil debate on 7 December Cosgrave stated: " I had only one figure in my mind and that was a huge nought.

On 28 February 1934, during a Dáil debate on a bill to outlaw the wearing of uniforms ( a bill specifically designed to curtail the Blueshirts, a far-right paramilitary movement then associated with Fine Gael ), Costello made a speech opposing the bill that has generated controversy ever since.

During the Dáil debate on the Emergency Powers Act 1939 Costello was highly critical of the delegation of powers, stating that "… we are asked not merely to give a blank cheque, but, to give an uncrossed cheque to the Government.

* Dáil debate on the Motion of No Confidence in the Government 31 October 1990

After almost a month of acrimonious debate the treaty was formally ratified by Dáil Éireann on 7 January 1922.

On 17 July 1942 at the fifth and final stage of the Dáil debate on the " Central Banking Bill ", he argued that the owner of the credit issued by the Central Bank of Ireland, should be the private property of the joint stock banker and not the property of the people of Ireland.

This debate was carried out when only five Deputies were present in the Dáil.

Kenny participated in a three party leader debate on RTÉ, moderated by Miriam O ' Callaghan and also in a five way debate on RTÉ, which was a new departure involving all party leaders of the outgoing Dáil, including Kenny, moderated by Pat Kenny.

In the debate that took place in the Dáil on the Treaty, O ' Higgins outlined the reasons for his support thus:

The amendment was passed in the Dáil on the 9 July 2009 with only an hour of the debate set aside for the bill, and was then narrowly passed by the Seanad the next day by walk-through vote, after being defeated in the initial electronic vote.

During the debate on decriminalisation of Homosexuality in the Dáil in 1993, he agreed with a statement by Fine Gael TD, Brendan McGahon which reads: " Homosexuality is a departure from normality and while homosexuals deserve our compassion they do not deserve our tolerance " and who described homosexuals as being " like lefthand drivers driving on the right-hand side of the road.

In a debate in the Dáil on 6 October 2009, Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore also said that John O ' Donoughue's position as Ceann Comharile was " untenable ", and that the Labour Party would table a motion of no confidence in him.

After the Dáil debate, the Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny issued a statement calling on O ' Donoughue to " resign forthwith " in the interest of the independence of the office of the Ceann Comhairle.

* On 6 March 2007, McDowell apologised to the Dáil for omissions from an Act that he had enacted in 2006 on the protection of children from sex abusers in the Second Stage debate on the Criminal Law ( Sexual Offences ) ( Amendment ) Bill 2007 in the Dáil, saying: " The primary purpose of this short Bill is to remedy an error in the Criminal Law ( Sexual Offences ) Act 2006.

He was an active chairman of the Dáil ; however, on occasion he was criticised, most notably by Labour's Pat Rabbitte, for allegedly stifling debate and being overly protective of the government.

He was never charged with any offence himself and was angry that a Dáil motion of confidence in the government effectively turned into a debate on him personally.

Cecilia Keaveney said in a subsequent Dáil debate, " It may not be possible to address defacing the flag through legislation, but the House must issue a strong message that this is unacceptable.

In April 2003, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Michael McDowell addressed Higgins during a Dáil debate, saying " I do not take lectures on democracy from a Trotskyite communist like Deputy Joe Higgins.

These envoys returned from England with the Anglo-Irish Treaty which, after prolonged and acrimonious debate, was narrowly ratified by the Dáil on 7 January 1922.

After a long and acrimonious debate lasting some weeks, the Dáil ratified the Treaty on 7 January 1922 by 64 votes to 57.

Proinsias De Rossa subverted this ban by reading the offending telephone numbers into the Dáil record, using his absolute privilege as a member of the Oireachtas to avoid a lawsuit.

After the Dáil voted by 64 to 57 to approve the Treaty in January, 1922, De Valera resigned the presidency ( which in August 1921 had been upgraded from a prime ministerial President of Dáil Éireann to a full head of state, called President of the Irish Republic ).

De Valera banned the Blueshirts in 1933, after a threatened march on the Dáil, in imitation of Mussolini's March on Rome.

However the motion failed to reach the required two-thirds majority and after the departure of six Workers ' Party TDs led by De Rossa to form the new Democratic Left party in 1992, Mac Giolla was the sole member of the Workers ' Party in the Dáil.

De Rossa did not contest his Dáil seat at the 2002 general election.

De Valera led his supporters out of the Dáil and, after a lapse of six months in which the IRA also split, a bloody civil war between pro-and anti-treaty sides followed, only coming to an end in 1923 accompanied by multiple executions.

On 10 May De Valera told the Dáil that the meeting ".. was of no significance ".