A WIDELY SHARED social media post has claimed that the European Commission has ordered Ireland to delay having a general election in order to ensure certain laws are passed before a potential change in Government.
“Government has been told by the EU commission NOT to hold an Election until next year so they can get the Migrant Pact, WHO Treaty and Hate Speech laws in,” the post, first shared on X on 27 March, says.
“I have been told that Varadkar resigned as per EU commission advice to release some pressure …. Reliable source!”
The post has been seen more than 20,000 times on X to date, while a screenshot of the post which was re-shared to Facebook has garnered more than 130 reactions.
However, the post fundamentally misunderstands how the Irish political system works and it is nonsense to claim that the EU has a say in when Irish general elections can be held.
The timeframe for elections to be held is fixed by law (and more loosely, by the Constitution), which says that general elections must happen at least every five years.
The Constitution specifies that an elected Dáil should “not continue for a longer period than seven years from the date of its first meeting: a shorter period may be fixed by law”, and the Electoral Act of 1992 limits this even further, to “five years from the date of its first meeting”.
This means that the current, 33rd Dáil, which first met on 20 February 2020, must be dissolved by the same date in 2025, followed by a general election about three weeks later.
The next general election will have to be held by late March 2025.
The post says that the EU wants Ireland to “get the Migrant Pact, WHO Treaty and Hate Speech laws in”.
But the Irish Government has already said it is opting in to the Migration Pact. Legislation giving effect to it will soon come before the Oireachtas Justice Committee, and then to both houses of the Oireachtas before it is signed off.
Additionally, rather than the EU forcing the pact onto Ireland, EU treaties explicitly give Ireland an opt-out clause — and we are the only country capable of doing so other than Denmark.
The pact was approved by the European Parliament yesterday and is expected to be formally approved by the Council of the EU – made up of the member states’ relevant ministers – but once it has been agreed, the laws will enter into force.
Member states will then have two years to create the relevant legislation domestically to accommodate and facilitate the regulations.
You can read more about what the pact involves in our explainer here.
Hate Crime Bill
Meanwhile, proposed hate speech laws have already been voted through the Dáil but are currently (and unexpectedly) being held up in the Seanad.
These laws are intended to treat crimes which are motivated by prejudice against listed “protected characteristics” such as race, religion, and sexual orientation.
However, as the name of the bill suggests, the proposal has been before the Oireachtas for years. Rather than being rushed through by the government (or the EU commission), the bill has been heavily debated and is currently stalled in the Seanad, including by government Senators.
WHO treaty
The WHO treaty has little to do with the EU and had not been presented yet.
The treaty, or to use its current title, the Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response Accord, has been the subject of misinformation and conspiracy theories for many months, which may be surprising given that the text of the accord hasn’t been presented yet.
Ongoing negotiations over the accord are part of a series of discussions that began in December 2021, after the deaths and damage caused by Covid-19 demonstrated that more international cooperation would be needed to tackle future pandemics.
The WHO said such a treaty would aim to:
However, the WHO’s role is largely administrative — it doesn’t get to decide what the treaty will do, if anything. The accord must be agreed on by member states.
Given that we don’t know what will be included in the accord (other than previous drafts), it is unclear whether the current Government, or the EU Commission, would necessarily support it. Either way, the Government will soon be able to decide on whether to do so.
In all of these cases, there is no proof of any EU pressure on Ireland to ensure relevant laws or accords are passed: Ireland has already opted in to the Migration Pact; hate speech laws have already been drafted; and it is not known what the WHO Treaty entails.
Contains reporting by Muiris O’Cearbhaill.
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