Could it be that our very Constitution has fallen foul of the Government's spending cutbacks? Or is it the case that the Department of the Taoiseach has refused to sanction a reprint of Bunreacht na hÉireann in the expectation that there will be a change after the Nice Treaty poll?
Whatever the reason, the Constitution has been out of print since early April, leaving teachers, academics and students of law and politics bereft.
The lack of copies has annoyed staff at the Government Publications Office in Dublin, who have to deal with requests for the document every day.
"It is highly embarrassing. We are getting between 10 and 15 telephone calls a day from the public and we have to tell them it is still out of stock," an employee in the office told The Irish Times.
"We keep asking the Department of the Taoiseach about it, and they keep telling us it is being reprinted. But we, and the public, are still waiting."
Between 50 and 60 law students were disappointed yesterday when they called in to the office in Molesworth Street, Dublin, seeking a copy of the Constitution.
A spokesman for the Taoiseach's Office denied the delay in reprinting had anything to do with the upcoming Nice Treaty referendum. "There was a problem with reprinting, but it is now in hand ,and enough copies will be available to meet demand soon," he said. "If the Constitution is changed after the Nice vote, we will print a new copy with the relevant changes."
The spokesman was unable to say exactly what caused the delay. "I am waiting to get that information," he added.
The Constitution is usually in stock in the Government Publications Office and in branches of Eason's at a cost of €2.54. Normally, there are between 200 and 300 copies on the shelves of the Government Publications Office, plus a few thousand in storage.
Eason's confirmed yesterday they, too, have been out of copies for several weeks.
The Constitution, enacted in 1937, sets out how the State should be governed; the rights of citizens are defined in 50 articles.
People looking for copies have been told to download it from the Internet. "But for many people that is cumbersome and expensive,
"It takes a lot of time although it is possible," a Government Publications spokesman said last night.