Nonetheless the government of Éamon de Valera, despite its long-term goal of republicanising the Irish state, consciously chose not to declare a republic and decided to name the state simply "Éire" (or "Ireland"), rather than the "Republic of Ireland" or the "Irish Republic". Thus the new constitution did not explicitly declare that the President would be head of state, providing merely that he would "take precedence over all other persons in the State". Nor did the new document mention the word "republic". Most crucially, Article 29 of the new constitution mirrored Article 51 of its predecessor, by permitting the state to allow its external relations to be exercised by the King. Article 29.4.2 provided that: