Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 10, 2005

Mary McAleese, current president of Ireland

Since 1949, the head of state of the Republic of Ireland has been the President of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people, and serves a maximum of two seven year terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain reserve powers. The office was established by the Constitution of Ireland in 1937. The President's official residence is Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin, and the current office-holder is President Mary McAleese. The President is formally elected by the people once in every seven years, except in the event of premature vacancy, when an election must be held within sixty days, or when there is only one valid candidate for the presidency, as happened in 2004. The President is directly elected by secret ballot under the form of the Single Transferable Vote system. (more...)

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