Democratic Programme - The Debate On Its Practicality

The Debate On Its Practicality

Brian Farrell felt that the Democratic Programme "did not represent the social and economic ideals of the first Dáil. Most of its members had not read the document in advance; the few who had seen it in draft form were reluctant enough to subscribe to it and there was a last minute redrafting ... only hours before the Dáil met."

Father Michael O'Kennedy, prominent in the rise of Sinn Féin from 1917, later said of the social and redistributive aspects that "It is a pity to mix up Sinn Féin in that land question. Of necessity questions of land, food and industries turn up, but all are of secondary importance and none must obscure our objective."

It is still arguable whether the programme was a cynical and unworkable attempt to secure on-going support from the poorer part of the population, or a genuine plan that was shelved but which should be put into effect unaltered in today's very different Ireland. Unionists in Northern Ireland will say that its impractical financial nature confirms why their political forebears could not consider unity with the nationalist part of Ireland. Socialists argue that its implementation is long overdue.