In the Irish Free State, the Governor-General's Address or Governor-General's Speech was a formal address delivered by the Governor-General to Dáil Éireann, modelled on the speech from the throne given in other Dominions of the British Commonwealth. The address was written by the Executive Council and outlined the bills it intended to introduce. Technically the address was only to the Dáil, not to a joint session of both Houses of the Oireachtas. However, members of Seanad Éireann were invited into the Dáil chamber to attend the address, and subsequently discussed it after returning to their own chamber. The address was a brief, businesslike event, lacking the pomp and ceremony of the State Opening of Parliament. This reflected the general lack of enthusiasm for monarchy in the Irish Free State. Only the first two sessions of the Free State Oireachtas, in 1922 and 1923, had such an address. Whereas in the British Parliament bills do not persist from one session to the next, the Free State Oireachtas allowed pending bills to carry over from the previous session. Thus the beginning of a new session did not correspond with the introduction of a completely new slate of legislation. The first Address: December 1922 The first address was delivered by the newly appointed Governor-General, Timothy Michael Healy, on 12 December 1922, six days after the coming into existence of the Irish Free State. Unlike other examples internationally the speech itself was delivered not to the upper house but to the lower house, Dáil Éireann, and involved no ceremony. Members of Seanad Éireann, at the invitation of the Ceann Comhairle, assembled in the Dáil chamber to witness the Speech. Labour Party members boycotted the speech. The Governor-General began by reading a message sent by King George V which read: With the final Enactment of the Constitution the self-governing Dominion of the Irish Free State comes into being. The Constitution is itself founded on the Treaty that was framed a year ago between the Representatives of Great Britain and of Ireland. It is my earnest hope that by the faithful observance on all sides of the Pact so concluded the peace and prosperity of Ireland may be secured. It is in the spirit of that Settlement that I have chosen you to be the first Representative of the Crown in the Irish Free State. With all my heart I pray that the blessing of God