There is some considerable debate as to who is currently the supreme authority in the land. The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, is our leader but who exactly took over Mary Robinson's presidential powers at 1 p.m.
yesterday is open to argument. Constitutionally, the Presidential Commission is in charge and as far as the Chief Justice Liam Hamilton and the Ceann Comhairle of the Dail, Seamus Pattison, go, that is straightforward. The problem arises with the final member of the triumvirate, the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad - there isn't one. The new Seanad, elected at the beginning of last month, has not yet met so no chair has been chosen. So if the two commission members fall out, or disagree over such a vital matter as a dissolution of the Dail, is it a case of God help us all? Not quite. The Irish Constitution by the late deputy John Kelly, quotes a 1979 Supreme Court case, Loftus v the Attorney General, that although strictly speaking there can be no chairman once the Dail and Seanad are dissolved "the outgoing holders of these offices must be taken to survive in office for the purposes of the Presidential Commission". So is Senator Liam Cosgrave, former Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, a member of the Presidential Commission or not? With this quandary have the legal eagles been occupied all week.