Several distinguished leaders have addressed a joint session of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann, the two houses of the Oireachtas or parliament of Ireland. The President of Ireland is entitled to make such an address under Article 13.7.1° of the Constitution.[1] Tim Healy, the first Governor-General of the Irish Free State, made addresses in 1922 and 1923 modelled on the British speech from the throne. Several foreign leaders have been honoured with an invitation to address the Oireachtas, typically during a state visit. The Official Report of Dáil and Seanad proceedings takes special care when recording such events and the transcript of speeches may be supplemented with description of ancillary actions.[2] A few leaders have also addressed Dáil Éireann sitting alone; those are also listed below. The standing orders of Seanad Éireann more readily allow addresses by non-members: see the list of addresses to Seanad Éireann.
| Date | Assembly | Speaker | Role | Country / Institution |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 May 1919[3] | Dáil (1st) | Frank P. Walsh, Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne, Michael J. Ryan |
American Commission on Irish Independence members[4] | United States | All three members spoke in turn. |
| 1 October 1922[5] | Dáil (2nd) | Thomas Johnson | Leader of the Labour Party | Ireland | A labour delegation was received on the floor of the Dáil, led by Johnson and also including Cathal O'Shannon, Thomas Foran, J. T. O'Farrell, Denis Cullen, George Nason, James Carr, and Luke Larkin. After Johnson's speech, O'Shannon spoke briefly in Irish. This was just after Arthur Griffith had been elected President of Dáil Éireann after a walkout by the anti-Treaty TDs led by Éamon de Valera |
| 12 December 1922[6] | Dáil (3rd) with Seanad (1st) members present | Tim Healy | Governor-General | Irish Free State | Governor-General's Address six days after the creation of the Irish Free State. Labour Party members boycotted the speech.[7] |
| 3 October 1923[8] | Dáil (4th) with Seanad (1st) members present | Tim Healy | Governor-General | Irish Free State | Governor-General's Address after the 1923 general election |
| 28 June 1963[9] | Joint sitting of 17th Dáil and 10th Seanad | John F. Kennedy | President | United States | Kennedy presented the banner of the Irish Brigade under Thomas Francis Meagher flown at the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862. His speech included the famous line, "George Bernard Shaw, speaking as an Irishman, summed up an approach to life: Other peoples, he said, see things and say: 'Why?' … But I dream things that never were—and I say: 'Why not?'" |
| 21 January 1969[10] | Simultaneous sitting at the Mansion House of 18th Dáil and 11th Seanad | Éamon de Valera | President | Ireland | Address under Article 13.7, on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the first meeting of the First Dáil. The speech was in Irish. Joe Clarke interrupted the speech to protest at the arrest of Dennis Dennehy.[11] |
| 4 June 1984[12] | Joint sitting of 24th Dáil and 17th Seanad | Ronald Reagan | President | United States | Three left-wing TDs — Tony Gregory, Tomás Mac Giolla and Proinsias De Rossa — left the chamber during the proceedings.[13] |
| 21 October 1987[14] | Dáil (25th) | Bob Hawke | Prime Minister | Australia | |
| 26 February 1988[15] | Joint sitting of 25th Dáil and 18th Seanad | François Mitterrand | President | France | The speech was in French. |
| 2 July 1990[16] | Dáil (26th) | Nelson Mandela | Deputy Leader of the African National Congress | South Africa | Several months after his release from prison, and early in the negotiated end to apartheid. |
| 8 July 1992[17][18] | Joint sitting of 26th Dáil and 19th Seanad | Mary Robinson | President | Ireland | Address under Article 13.7, on the topic "the Irish Identity in Europe". |
| 20 September 1993[19] | Dáil (27th) | Paul Keating | Prime Minister | Australia | |
| 2 February 1995[20] | Joint sitting of 27th Dáil and 20th Seanad | Mary Robinson | President | Ireland | Address under Article 13.7 titled "Cherishing the Irish Diaspora"[21] |
| 1 December 1995[22] | Joint sitting of 27th Dáil and 20th Seanad | Bill Clinton | President | United States | Address made at an early stage in the Northern Ireland peace process |
| 2 October 1996[23] | Dáil (27th) | Helmut Kohl | Chancellor | Germany | The speech was in German. |
| 26 November 1998[24][25] | Joint sitting of 28th Dáil and 21st Seanad | Tony Blair | Prime Minister | United Kingdom | Address made after the Belfast Agreement. |
| 16 December 1999[26][27] | Joint sitting of 28th Dáil and 21st Seanad | Mary McAleese | President | Ireland | Address under Article 13.7 to mark the millennium.[28] |
| 23 May 2006[29] | Dáil (29th) | John Howard | Prime Minister | Australia | |
| 4 October 2012[30] | Dáil (31st) | Martin Schulz | President | European Parliament | |
| 11 May 2017[31] | 32nd Dáil and 25th Seanad sitting in joint committee of the whole | Michel Barnier | Chief Negotiator on Brexit | European Commission | Described as an "exchange of views" with Barnier rather than an address by him. |
| 21 June 2018[32] | Joint sitting of 32nd Dáil and 25th Seanad | Jean-Claude Juncker | President | European Commission | [33][34] |
| 6 April 2022[35] | Joint sitting of 33rd Dáil and 26th Seanad | Volodymyr Zelenskyy | President | Ukraine | First address by video link.[36] One of many addresses by Zelenskyy to legislatures seeking support after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[37][38] |
| 1 December 2022[39] | Joint sitting of 33rd Dáil and 26th Seanad | Ursula von der Leyen | President | European Commission | Marking the 50th anniversary of Ireland's EU accession. |
| 13 April 2023[40] | Joint sitting of 33rd Dáil and 26th Seanad | Joe Biden | President | United States | 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. People Before Profit members boycotted the speech.[41] |
On 28 April 1949, Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India, was received on the floor of the Dáil; he did not make a speech.[42]
On 21 January 2019, a programme of events in the Mansion House, to mark the centenary of the First Dáil, included an address by President Michael D. Higgins[43][44] and a joint sitting of the 32nd Dáil and 25th Seanad;[45][43] however, the address was not formally part of the joint sitting.[45][43]
On 18 April 2019, Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, addressed current and former members of the Oireachtas, but not at a formal sitting of the Dáil or Seanad.[46]