TY - JOUR
T1 - Neither democratic nor a programme: The Democratic Programme of 1919
AU - O'Connor, E
PY - 2016/5/12
Y1 - 2016/5/12
N2 - On 21 January 1919, the first Dáil adopted four constitutional documents, the best known of which is the Democratic Programme, a statement of social values, based on proposals from the Labour Party. The Programme is usually regarded as a cynical reward to Labour for its abstention from the 1918 general election, and nationalist elites have frequently been criticised for reneging on it. This paper will argue that the Programme was written to advance the Irish cause at the International Socialist Conference at Berne in February 1919, that parts of the Programme were implemented, and that it is very likely that the Labour Party did not write it to be implemented.
AB - On 21 January 1919, the first Dáil adopted four constitutional documents, the best known of which is the Democratic Programme, a statement of social values, based on proposals from the Labour Party. The Programme is usually regarded as a cynical reward to Labour for its abstention from the 1918 general election, and nationalist elites have frequently been criticised for reneging on it. This paper will argue that the Programme was written to advance the Irish cause at the International Socialist Conference at Berne in February 1919, that parts of the Programme were implemented, and that it is very likely that the Labour Party did not write it to be implemented.
KW - Ireland
KW - Labour
UR - http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0021121416000043
UR - https://pure.ulster.ac.uk/en/publications/neither-democratic-nor-a-programme-the-democratic-programme-of-19-3
U2 - 10.1017/ihs.2016.4
DO - 10.1017/ihs.2016.4
M3 - Article
VL - 40
SP - 92
EP - 109
JO - Irish Historical Studies
JF - Irish Historical Studies
SN - 0021-1214
IS - 157
ER -