The Triangular Constitution

This well-structured and exceptionally well-written text is an investigation into the relationship between the Irish constitutional system and the broader European legal space The Triangular Constitution is a welcome addition to the literature on both the Irish Constitution and constitutional pluralism, giving a new perspective on Irish constitutional law, contextualising it and acknowledging its European dimensions while enriching our understanding of the practical workings of constitutional pluralism and of some of its theoretical underpinnings. -- Stephen Coutts, University College Cork * The Irish Jurist * Tom Flynns excellent book, The Triangular Constitution, is an insightful contribution to constitutional theory. It focuses on transnational constitutionalism, and the intermingling of national and international law, and explores these topics by means of a detailed case study of Ireland. -- David Kenny, Trinity College Dublin * Common Law World Review * This book will be of great value to constitutional scholars and students of constitutional law in Ireland, for its dexterous and comprehensive sweep of the thicket of constitutional law that binds the Irish, EU and ECHR legal orders. But Flynn's book will invite interest far beyond the Irish academic sphere. It should be recognised primarily for its contribution to constitutional pluralism as a discipline. An all-encompassing, exhaustively developed and original theoretical approach, capable of application to the tripartite relationship of any EU Member State with the EU and ECHR legal orders, will be of enormous benefit to scholars grappling with constitutional conflict in Europe. -- Ciarn Donohue * Hibernian Law Journal *

Tom Flynn is a Lecturer in the School of Law at the University of Essex.

1. European Constitutional Pluralism and the Triangular Constitution I. Constitutional Pluralisms Origins in the EU II. The Constitutional Pluralists and the Critics III. Metaconstitutional Pluralisms IV. Two Problems of Metaconstitutional Pluralism V. Triangular Constitutionalism 2. The Vertical Frame I. The Terms of Engagement Between Irish Law and EU Law II. The Irish Legal Order and the European Convention on Human Rights 3. The Horizontal Frame I. The Pre-Accession Terms of Engagement Between the EU and the ECHR II. The Draft Accession Agreement and Opinion 2/13 III. Labour Rights and Constitutional Conflict 4. The Triangular Frame I. Avoidance, Engagement and Conditional Recognition II. Polyarchic Deliberation III. The Nature of the Relationships and the Universality of Interface Norms 5. Towards Triangular Constitutionalism: Universalising the Triangular Constitution I. The Triangular Constitution Assessed II. From the Particular to the Universal