Constitution of Ireland Article 12

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1. There shall be a President of Ireland (Uachtarán na hÉireann), hereinafter called the President, who shall take precedence over all other persons in the State and who shall exercise and perform the powers and functions conferred on the President by this Constitution and by law.
2. 1. The President shall be elected by direct vote of the people.
   2. Every citizen who has the right to vote at an election for members of Dáil Éireann shall have the right to vote at an election for President.
   3. The voting shall be by secret ballot and on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.
3. 1. The President shall hold office for seven years from the date upon which he enters upon his office, unless before the expiration of that period he dies, or resigns, or is removed from office, or becomes permanently incapacitated, such incapacity being established to the satisfaction of the Supreme Court consisting of not less than five judges.
   2. A person who holds, or who has held, office as President, shall be eligible for re-election to that office once, but only once.
   3. An election for the office of President shall be held not later than, and not earlier than the sixtieth day before, the date of the expiration of the term of office of every President, but in the event of the removal from office of the President or of his death, resignation, or permanent incapacity established as aforesaid (whether occurring before or after he enters upon his office), an election for the office of President shall be held within sixty days after such event.
4. 1. Every citizen who has reached his thirty-fifth year of age is eligible for election to the office of President.
   2. Every candidate for election, not a former or retiring President, must be nominated either by:
      1. not less than twenty persons, each of whom is at the time a member of one of the Houses of the Oireachtas, or
      2. by the Councils of not less than four administrative Counties (including County Boroughs) as defined by law.
   3. No person and no such Council shall be entitled to subscribe to the nomination of more than one candidate in respect of the same election.
   4. Former or retiring Presidents may become candidates on their own nomination.
   5. Where only one candidate is nominated for the office of President it shall not be necessary to proceed to a ballot for his election.
5. Subject to the provisions of this Article, elections for the office of President shall be regulated by law.
6. 1. The President shall not be a member of either House of the Oireachtas.
   2. If a member of either House of the Oireachtas be elected President, he shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in that House.
   3. The President shall not hold any other office or position of emolument.
7. The first President shall enter upon his office as soon as may be after his election, and every subsequent President shall enter upon his office on the day following the expiration of the term of office of his predecessor or as soon as may be thereafter or, in the event of his predecessor's removal from office, death, resignation, or permanent incapacity established as provided by section 3 hereof, as soon as may be after the election.
8. The President shall enter upon his office by taking and subscribing publicly, in the presence of members of both Houses of the Oireachtas, of Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Court, and other public personages, the following declaration:

   "In the presence of Almighty God I ___________,do solemnly and sincerely promise and declare that I will maintain the Constitution of Ireland and uphold its laws, that I will fulfil my duties faithfully and conscientiously in accordance with the Constitution and the law, and that I will dedicate my abilities to the service and welfare of the people of Ireland. May God direct and sustain me."

9. The President shall not leave the State during his term of office save with the consent of the Government.
10. 1. The President may be impeached for stated misbehaviour.
    2. The charge shall be preferred by either of the Houses of the Oireachtas, subject to and in accordance with the provisions of this section.
    3. A proposal to either House of the Oireachtas to prefer a charge against the President under this section shall not be entertained unless upon a notice of motion in writing signed by not less than thirty members of that House.
    4. No such proposal shall be adopted by either of the Houses of the Oireachtas save upon a resolution of that House supported by not less than two-thirds of the total membership thereof.
    5. When a charge has been preferred by either House of the Oireachtas, the other House shall investigate the charge, or cause the charge to be investigated.
    6. The President shall have the right to appear and to be represented at the investigation of the charge.
    7. If, as a result of the investigation, a resolution be passed supported by not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the House of the Oireachtas by which the charge was investigated, or caused to be investigated, declaring that the charge preferred against the President has been sustained and that the misbehaviour, the subject of the charge, was such as to render him unfit to continue in office, such resolution shall operate to remove the President from his office.
11. 1. The President shall have an official residence in or near the City of Dublin.
    2. The President shall receive such emoluments and allowances as may be determined by law.
    3. The emoluments and allowances of the President shall not be diminished during his term of office.

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