Misplaced Pages

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34-481: On the national issue, the Sinn Féin Manifesto for the 1918 election had stressed the long history of Irish resistance to British rule "based on our unbroken tradition of nationhood, on a unity in a national name which has never been challenged, on our possession of a distinctive national culture and social order, on the moral courage and dignity of our people in the face of alien aggression...." The party

68-507: A clause that private property was to be subordinate "to the public right and welfare." The First Dáil subsequently issued "decrees" on many matters, but none of these were based on the Programme. There was no money to put the plans into effect. The war launched by Sinn Féin led to "British sanctions in the form of withdrawal of grants... inhibiting financial autonomy. The Minister for Finance, Michael Collins, found it impossible to introduce

102-545: A freely-elected Government in a free Ireland has power to decide for Ireland the question of peace and war, have forfeited the right to speak for the Irish people. The green flag turned red in the hands of the Leaders, but that shame is not to be laid at the doors of the Irish people unless they continue a policy of sending their representatives to an alien and hostile assembly, whose powerful influence has been sufficient to destroy

136-413: A nation to sovereign independence rests upon immutable natural law and cannot be made the subject of a compromise. Any attempt to barter away the sacred and inviolate rights of nationhood begins in dishonour and is bound to end in disaster. The enforced exodus of millions of our people, the decay of our industrial life, the ever-increasing financial plunder of our country, the whittling down of the demand for

170-673: A system of income tax and the Dáil itself never advocated that the Irish should stop paying tax or indeed land annuities to the British." Of amounts raised abroad, by far the greatest share went to "world propaganda", and not towards social issues, according to the May 1921 Dáil statement. 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

204-458: Is based on our unbroken tradition of nationhood, on a unity in a national name which has never been challenged, on our possession of a distinctive national culture and social order, on the moral courage and dignity of our people in the face of alien aggression, on the fact that in nearly every generation, and five times within the past 120 years our people have challenged in arms the right of England to rule this country. On these incontrovertible facts

238-694: Is based the claim that our people have beyond question established the right to be accorded all the power of a free nation. Sinn Féin stands less for a political party than for the Nation; it represents the old tradition of nationhood handed on from dead generations; it stands by the Proclamation of the Provisional Government of Easter, 1916, reasserting the inalienable right of the Irish Nation to sovereign independence, reaffirming

272-434: Is fraught with vital possibilities for the future of our nation. Ireland is faced with the question whether this generation wills it that she is to march out into the full sunlight of freedom, or is to remain in the shadow of a base imperialism that has brought and ever will bring in its train naught but evil for our race. Sinn Féin gives Ireland the opportunity of vindicating her honour and pursuing with renewed confidence

306-477: Is that the only status befitting this ancient realm is the status of a free nation. ISSUED BY THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF SINN FÉIN' Irish Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence ( Irish : Forógra na Saoirse , French: Déclaration d'indépendance ) was a document adopted by Dáil Éireann , the revolutionary parliament of the Irish Republic , at its first meeting in

340-517: The Irish Republic , and by chance the same day as the outbreak of the Irish War of Independence . The programme outlined a socialist policy which included: the public ownership of the means of production, natural resources and "wealth"; state provision of education for children and care for the elderly; ensuring that children receive food; promotion of industrial development as well as the exploitation of natural resources . The Labour Party inserted

374-518: The Mansion House, Dublin , on 21 January 1919. It followed from the Sinn Féin election manifesto of December 1918. Texts of the declaration were adopted in three languages: Irish , English and French. The Irish Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland . The declaration made no mention of the independence of the 32-county geographic island, just the independence of

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408-589: The " constitutive theory of statehood " and therefore did not recognise the Irish Republic. By the Declaration of Independence, the Dáil ratified the earlier Proclamation of the Irish Republic of Easter 1916 . This proclamation had not been adopted by an elected body but merely by the Easter rebels claiming to act in the name of the Irish people. Unlike the proclamation, the Declaration of Independence

442-667: The "Irish nation" or "Irish people". It was rivalled by the British administration of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , but as the Irish War of Independence went on, it increased its legitimacy in the eyes of most Irish people. It was taken over by the Irish Free State in 1922, after the Anglo-Irish Treaty . Under international law , the declaration satisfied the principle of the " declarative theory of statehood ," but in 1919 almost all states followed

476-622: The 'Repeal of the Union,' voiced by the first Irish Leader to plead in the Hall of the Conqueror to that of Home Rule on the Statute Book, and finally the contemplated mutilation of our country by partition, are some of the ghastly results of a policy that leads to national ruin. Those who have endeavoured to harness the people of Ireland to England's war-chariot, ignoring the fact that only

510-490: The British Government would destroy it. Sinn Féin, however, goes to the polls confident that the people of this ancient nation will be true to the old cause and will vote for the men who stand by the principles of Tone, Emmet, Mitchel, Pearse and Connolly, the men who disdain to whine to the enemy for favours, the men who hold that Ireland must be as free as England or Holland, Switzerland or France, and whose demand

544-586: The Democratic Programme, as embodying these ideals and also the Declaration of Independence . The Democratic Program was drafted with the assistance of Thomas Johnson , the leader of the Labour Party , in return for the Labour Party not campaigning in the 1918 election and continuing moral support. The Programme was published and approved by the First Dáil on the same day as the declaration of

578-531: The Peace Conference for the establishment of Ireland as an Independent Nation. At that conference the future of the Nations of the world will be settled on the principle of government by consent of the governed . Ireland's claim to the application of that principle in her favour is not based on any accidental situation arising from the war. It is older than many if not all of the present belligerents. It

612-407: The Peace Conference. By declaring their will to accept the status of a province instead of boldly taking their stand upon the right of the nation they supply England with the only subterfuge at her disposal for obscuring the issue in the eyes of the world. By their persistent endeavours to induce the young manhood of Ireland to don the uniform of our seven-century-old oppressor, and place their lives at

646-672: The United States had suggested that the Versailles Peace Conference would be inclusive and even-handed, but his " Fourteen Points " had called for "equal weight" between parties at arbitration in article 5, and not outright declarations of independence. In June 1920, a "Draft Treaty between the new Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Republic of Ireland" was circulated in Dublin. E. H. Carr ,

680-469: The crown. We claim for our national independence the recognition and support of every free nation in the world, and we proclaim that independence to be a condition precedent to international peace hereafter: An important element in the 1918 Sinn Féin election manifesto was to secure recognition at the forthcoming peace conference that would end the World War of 1914 to 1918 . President Woodrow Wilson of

714-601: The determination of the Irish people to achieve it, and guaranteeing within the independent Nation equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens. Believing that the time has arrived when Ireland's voice for the principle of untrammelled National self-determination should be heard above every interest of party or class, Sinn Féin will oppose at the Polls every individual candidate who does not accept this principle. The policy of our opponents stands condemned on any test, whether of principle or expediency. The right of

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748-417: The disposal of the military machine that holds our Nation in bondage, they endeavour to barter away and even to use against itself the one great asset still left to our Nation after the havoc of the centuries. Sinn Féin goes to the polls handicapped by all the arts and contrivances that a powerful and unscrupulous enemy can use against us. Conscious of the power of Sinn Féin to secure the freedom of Ireland

782-645: 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." Sinn F%C3%A9in Manifesto 1918 The 1918 Sinn Féin election manifesto

816-602: The evacuation of our country by the English Garrison. Differing meanings were given to the occupying 'English garrison'. This was the closest that the Irish Republic came to declaring war on Britain in January 1919, arguing that an invasion had taken place, and therefore any military action from then on was to remove the invaders. The government in London refused to take this as a declaration of war , considering that it

850-490: The integrity and sap the independence of their representatives. Ireland must repudiate the men who, in a supreme crisis for the nation, attempted to sell her birthright for the vague promises of English Ministers, and who showed their incompetence by failing to have even these promises fulfilled. The present Irish members of the English Parliament constitute an obstacle to be removed from the path that leads to

884-570: The path of national salvation by rallying to the flag of the Irish Republic. Sinn Féin aims at securing the establishment of that Republic. 1. By withdrawing the Irish Representation from the British Parliament and by denying the right and opposing the will of the British Government or any other foreign Government to legislate for Ireland. 2. By making use of any and every means available to render impotent

918-409: The power of England to hold Ireland in subjection by military force or otherwise. 3. By the establishment of a constituent assembly comprising persons chosen by Irish constituencies as the supreme national authority to speak and act in the name of the Irish people, and to develop Ireland's social, political and industrial life, for the welfare of the whole people of Ireland. 4. By appealing to

952-420: The social front, the Manifesto linked the nationalist aim of freedom with the opportunity for equality, "reasserting the inalienable right of the Irish Nation to sovereign independence, reaffirming the determination of the Irish people to achieve it, and guaranteeing within the independent Nation equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens." On winning 73 seats, the Dáil voted at its first session for

986-614: Was based on the 'apostolic succession' of revolts against the English and later, British Administrations, placing the last fully free Ireland in the Gaelic world of about the 1160s, before the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland of 1168–71. The declaration saw the wars and revolts of 1594–1603 , 1641–50 , 1689–91 , 1798 , 1803 , 1848 , 1867 and 1916 as a continuing attempt at regaining Irish self-government, with or without links to

1020-433: Was committed to use "any and every means available to render impotent the power of England to hold Ireland in subjection by military force or otherwise." The stance was not inclusive of those who supported or tolerated the link with Britain, and 'alien aggression' became synonymous with occupation of the island of Ireland , whether by the British forces or by the descendants of the British settlers from earlier centuries. On

1054-667: Was followed by the establishment of some de facto political organs. In its crucial line the declaration pronounced that: ..we, the elected Representatives of the ancient Irish people in National Parliament assembled, do, in the name of the Irish nation, ratify the establishment of the Irish Republic and pledge ourselves and our people to make this declaration effective by every means at our command We solemnly declare foreign government in Ireland to be an invasion of our national right which we will never tolerate, and we demand

Democratic Programme - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-469: Was not launched by or for the Sinn Féin party. The manifesto was the first formal address to the Irish electorate, from which followed the Declaration of Independence of the Irish Republic and its Democratic Programme on 19 January 1919. An amended version, approved by the official censor, can be found here . 'GENERAL ELECTION --- MANIFESTO TO THE IRISH PEOPLE THE coming general election

1122-497: Was that party's manifesto for the 1918 general election . After its reform in 1917 , the Sinn Féin party campaigned against conscription in Ireland. Following the armistice of 11 November 1918 the British Government called a general election for 14 December, in which Sinn Féin won 73 out of 105 seats in Ireland. While by 1918 the Irish electorate knew of the rationale for the Dublin Easter Rising of 1916, it

1156-685: Was worded for an Irish audience. When the Irish War of Independence started with some haphazard shootings on the same day at Soloheadbeg , County Tipperary , it was treated by the British as a police matter. The Dáil had no claim to control the Irish Republican Army (IRA) until the latter swore an oath of allegiance to it in August 1920. And Whereas for seven hundred years the Irish people has never ceased to repudiate and has repeatedly protested in arms against foreign usurpation. This

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