The Constitution Review Group was a group established by the

Irish government The Government of Ireland () is the executive authority of Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet – is composed of ministers, each of whom must be a member of the , which consists of ...

in 1995 to review the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland (, ) is the constitution, fundamental law of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. It guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected non-executi ...

and to recommend alterations. The group was chaired by T. K. Whitaker and had fifteen members selected from different backgrounds, though lawyers predominated. The

terms of reference Terms of reference (TOR) define the purpose and structures of a project, committee, meeting, negotiation, or any similar collection of people who have agreed to work together to accomplish a shared goal. Terms of reference show how the object in ...

for the Group were:

...to review the Constitution, and in the light of this review, to establish those areas where constitutional change may be desirable or necessary, with a view to assisting the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution, to be established by the
Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...
, in its work.

The Group was excused by its terms of reference from considering Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland and matters relating to cabinet

confidentiality Confidentiality involves a set of rules or a promise sometimes executed through confidentiality agreements that limits the access to or places restrictions on the distribution of certain types of information. Legal confidentiality By law, la ...

. The ''Report of the Constitution Review Group'' was published in July 1996 and ran to 700 pages. This is said to be the most thorough analysis of the Constitution of Ireland ever made.

References

Politics of Ireland Constitution of Ireland {{Republic-of-Ireland-politics-stub