As the Debates Office reaches a landmark in the publication of its bound volumes - its physically printed Official Report of Dáil proceedings - take a look at some of our nation's history seen through the lens of Oireachtas debates.
The Editor of Debates and Chief Reporter, Anne Maxwell, checks the bound volume of Vol. 1000 of the Official Report. Under the direction of the Ceann Comhairle, the Editor is responsible for the production and publication of the Official Report and its bound volumes.
Take a journey with the Official Report
The beginnings of the Official Report of Dáil Éireann coincided with the turbulent dawn of Ireland as a newborn state. Its development would shadow that of Ireland from a newly independent country born into conflict and hardship to a mature and respected global state.
Vol. 1 of the Official Report details the election of President of the Dáil. This position of the Irish Free State was replaced with the position of Taoiseach after adoption of the 1937 Constitution.
Vol. 1, No. 1 | Saturday, 9 September 1922
The first sitting of the Third Dáil was boycotted by anti-Treaty Members but took place nonetheless on 9 September 1922.
The proceedings were published as Vol. 1 of the Official Report and illustrate the turmoil of the time, with Members questioning whether the new Dáil represented "the whole of Ireland or not?".
Vol. 115, No. 16 | Tuesday, 31 May 1949
Over the century of debate recorded by the Official Report, there have been numerous momentous debates relating to gender equality, civil rights and working conditions, for example, along with perennial debates on subjects like the cost of living.
Consistency amid change
This Official Report now numbers more than 1,000 volumes of parliamentary debate. Although technology and reporting methods have changed utterly, the report has remained largely consistent in its format while embracing technical innovation.
Take a look at the interactive graphic below and compare the first pages of Vol. 1, as published in 1922, and Vol. 1000 of the Official Report as published almost a century later.
Vol. 97, No. 7 | Friday, 18 May 1945
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Dáil Deputies debate ways in which Ireland, still a nascent state in its own right, could give humanitarian aid to countries ravaged by almost six years of war. Almost 80 years afterwards, the Official Report would still contain details of people disaffected by conflict in Europe.
The Official Report contains everything said in public sittings of the Houses of the Oireachtas and their parliamentary committees, including historic debates and the more mundane business of Parliament, as exemplified in Vol. 284, No. 3.
Vol. 168, No. 5 | Thursday, 22 May 1958
New legislation in 1958 would "experiment" with the idea of authorising the recruitment of women into An Garda Síochána. The Debates Office, meanwhile, was from an early stage staffed by rather more equal mixes of men and women.
History may not repeat but it often rhymes. The topic of housing provision opens a day's proceedings in Vol. 62, No. 8 of the Official Report from 1936.
Vol. 1000, No. 1 | Tuesday, 3 November 2020
"Sometimes, perhaps, generations of people do not realise that the cornerstone of our democracy is the written record of the Dáil. It is fantastic that we have such a lengthy record in bound volumes of what has been said in Dáil Éireann ó thosach. It is something we should celebrate."
The Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin | 3 November 2020