First Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland

The First Amendment of the Constitution Act 1939 amended the Constitution of Ireland to extend the constitutional definition of "time of war" to include a period during which a war occurs without the state itself being a direct participant. It was introduced and signed into law on 2 September 1939, the day after the Invasion of Poland by Germany and allowed the government to exercise emergency powers during World War II (known in Ireland as The Emergency) although the state was neutral.