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Greetings. The second in my occasional series of adventures in Congress. This is bit more complicated and came about from an article from iBhoy expressing a wish that Congress would act a bit more cohesively. (OK, he didn't say that exactly, but this is the political version).

In conjunction with Winston Hope Smith, we've brought about a template of how we can organise congress so that it has an actual relationship with the Country President. To make this with an Irish flavour we're using the traditional terms of Ceann Comhairle for the speaker and Taoiseach for the CP.

The idea of Ceann Comhairle (CC) is nothing new and has been a part of eIrish politics for a very long time. We seek to take no credit for this, what we are putting down is a template that people can use to put parameters on how the CC, the Taoiseach and the Dáil work together.

This is a template, not dictation. We're perfectly happy to take advice, criticism or suggestions on board. Please find the attached wall of text. Currently all parties with congressmen have been contacted since last Saturday to debate the template below. As of now, your party presidents are putting forward their party representative and/or their candidate for Ceann Comhairle. The election will take place over the next 24-48. If your party has a congress representative and you have heard nothing from your president, I suggest you get in touch with them immediately.



Guidelines for electing Ceann Comhairle (Speaker)

1. After the congress elections, the previous Ceann Comhairle shall continue to hold office until a new one is elected.

2. Any Congressman who want to withdraw their membership of a political party and join another, have 24 hours to register this change with respect to the election of the Ceann Comhairle.

3. 24 hours after the results are announced, the (an) Ceann Comhairle shall contact the Party Presidents of political parties that have at least one member of congress by personal message . After the personal message has been sent, any further changes of political party membership will be considered non-binding for determining the election of Ceann Comhairle.

4. The Party Presidents shall respond within 24 hours to an Ceann Comhairle by personal message, with the name of their party representative 1 and their candidate for the role of Ceann Comhairle, if this differs.

5. Any party that fails to respond within this 24 hour period with their candidate(s) may still take part in the election of an Ceann Comhairle, but are no longer able to put a candidate forward. For these parties, the Party President shall be considered to be the party representative, but this can be changed at any time through contacting an Ceann Comhairle by personal message.

6. After this 24 hour period, an Ceann Comhairle shall contact all the members of congress and invite them to elect the new Ceann Comhairle. This election is will be held on the CIVS site HERE and congressmen have 24 hours to register their vote.

7. After the end of this time period, an Ceann Comhairle will announce the results to the party representatives and the new Ceann Comhairle will take his office.

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1 The party representative does not have to be a member of congress





Role of an Ceann Comhairle

1. An Ceann Comhairle is the primary contact between the Taoiseach (Country President), his ministers and the political parties that have congressmen. As Ceann Comhairle, he or she is expected to serve the country first, disregard his political affiliation, and maintain his office with integrity and dignity.

2. The Taoiseach shall inform an Ceann Comhairle of any impending legislation by personal message allowing a minimum 24 hour period of grace. The Ceann Comhairle shall inform the relevant party representatives immediately.1

3. The party representatives shall reply to an Ceann Comhairle by personal message within this 24 hour period should their party have any concerns with this legislation that may result in their voting against it. The Ceann Comhairle shall convey this to the Taoiseach.

4. An Ceann Comhairle shall mediate between the Taoiseach and the party or parties involved to try and broker a solution until the Taoiseach puts the proposal forward to the Dáil.

5. The political parties shall, where possible, inform an Ceann Comhairle when any of their members or their party intend to put forward any new legislation to the Dáil by allowing a 24 hour period of grace. 2

6. An Ceann Comhairle shall inform the Taoiseach and the relevant minister(s) of the impending legislation without delay.

7. An Ceann Comhairle shall convey the opinions of the Taoiseach and his ministers to the representative of the party who intend to originate the legislation. An Ceann Comhairle shall attempt to mediate between the government and the political party should the government oppose the legislation.

8. An Ceann Comhairle shall retain a list of congressmen to hand. In the event of a political or military emergency, the Taoiseach may request that an Ceann Comhairle contact each congressman by personal message. An Ceann Comhairle is obliged to communicate the gravity of the situation as seen by the Taoiseach, but may also add his judgement in his role of serving his country first.

1 Congress acknowledges that the Taoiseach may not be able to give 24 hours notice of impending legislation, but reserves the right to impeach the Taoiseach in dereliction of duties.

2 The Taoiseach and his ministers acknowledges that party members are free to vote without consulting the party and abiding to the party ethos, but reserve the right to take the party and the individual to task.