Greening the Irish State: early legislative and administrative dynamics

Abstract

ABSTRACT The establishment of Saorstát Éireann (the Irish Free State) in 1922 did not herald a fundamental overhaul of the administrative machinery inherited from Whitehall and Dublin Castle. Path dependent continuities in legislation and executive orders underpinned the new dispensation. At the same time, a process of evolutionary change, which we call ‘administrative greening’, was underway. Drawing on data in the Irish State Administration Database (ISAD), and building on our analysis in Biggins, J., MacCarthaigh, M., & Scott, C. (2024). Priming the state: Continuity and junctures in the foundation of the Irish administration. Irish Political Studies, we explore these dynamics of both continuity and change in the formative years of the new state’s public administration. In so doing, we attest to patterns of normative production and reproduction, illustrated with reference to a number of legislative and administrative examples.