section_path: Duration
section_name: Duration
paragraph_text: Duration
  
  The First Dáil was established on 21 January 1919 as the single-chamber parliament of the Irish Republic. One of the first actions of the Dáil was to ratify a constitution, commonly known as the Dáil Constitution. As a provisional constitution it made no reference to the length of the term of each Dáil. The first and second Dáil existed under the provisions of this constitution. Neither was recognised by the British government or the governments of other countries as the lawful parliament of Ireland.
  
  On 6 December 1922, following the signing of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty which brought the Irish War of Independence to an end, the single chamber Dáil became the lower house of a new bicameral Oireachtas, the parliament of the newly established Irish Free State.
  
  Article 28 of the Constitution of the Irish Free State (1922) set the maximum term for the Dáil at four years. This was amended in 1927 from four years to six years "or such shorter period as may be fixed by legislation". Later that same year, this period was fixed in law as a duration of "five years reckoned from the date of the first meeting of Dáil Éireann after the last previous dissolution".
  
  On 29 December 1937, on the coming into force of the new Constitution of Ireland, the Irish Free State ceased to exist and was replaced by a new state called Ireland. Article 16.5 of the 1937 Constitution states, "Dáil Éireann shall not continue for a longer period than seven years from the date of its first meeting: a shorter period may be fixed by law". The period in law remained at five years. Since the coming into force of the 1937 constitution, no Irish government has proposed changing the maximum term of the Dáil, which still remains five years and was reconfirmed by legislation in 1992, which stated, "The same Dáil shall not continue for a longer period than five years from the date of its first meeting". Consequently, the maximum term for the Dáil is five years from the date it first met following the last general election.