Rónán Mullen (Independent)

They never got to prove the equation because the deletion of proportional representation was twice proposed in an amendment to the Constitution and twice the people said "no". De Valera may not have realised in 1938 that the Irish people would use Bunreacht na hÉireann to frustrate his wishes concerning the voting system but that does not lessen his achievement in putting the document before us as a wonderful piece of constitutional history on a worldwide scale and an enduring and valuable legacy to the Irish people.