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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 11 May 1922

Vol. S2 No. 10

“REPORT OF THE REPUBLICAN DELEGATION.

"We the representatives of the Republican Party on the Committee appointed by An Dáil having failed to obtain any basis of agreement with the representatives of the other Party, beg to submit this supplement to the joint report.
"At the first meeting after the truce was arranged, Deputy Boland on his own behalf handed in the following proposals as a rough basis of discussion:
"The following principles be accepted, as suggested by Labour, and passed by resolution in the Dáil:—
"1 (a) That all legislative executive and judicial authority in Ireland is, and shall be, derived solely from the people of Ireland.
"(b) That Dáil Éireann is the supreme governing authority in Ireland.
"2. Taking cognisance of the dangers that beset our country, we recommend that Dáil Éireann decree that the forthcoming elections declared by England be not contested, but that the present personnel constitute the Third Dáil (except that the Deputies representing two constituencies vacate their seats in Clare, Cavan, Cork, and the National University, these vacancies being filled by arrangement) and that it be accepted and understood that no issue is being determined by the election.
"3. That pending the adoption of a Constitution for the nation the Constitution of Dáil Éireann be revised so as to provide for a President and Council of State as sole Executive, the composition, personnel, duties, functions, etc., to be arranged by agreement between both sides.
"4. That the Provisional Government is to act solely as a taking over or Transfer Commission, and to cease all executive functions.
"5. That to unify the Army, the Army Convention to be held as soon as may be, the Convention to consist of the delegates chosen for the banned (recent proposed) Convention and those only.
"6. That this Convention elect a representative on the Council of State who shall be Minister for Defence.
"7. That it elect also an Army Council which shall be in administrative control of the army and responsible for nominations, appointments, commissions, etc.
"After some discussion 1 (a) and (b) of the above proposals were unanimously agreed to, except that the words ‘as suggested by Labour’ had to be deleted to meet the other side.
"On coming to discussion of 2, the other side asked for an adjournment so as to prepare counter-proposals. On resumption, these counter-proposals were submitted by Deputy O'Dwyer on behalf of his group. We could not agree to these as agreement would definitely commit us to acceptance of the Treaty. A deadlock was accordingly reached, and at this stage Deputy O Maille suggested that Commandants O'Hegarty, Hales, O'Donoghue, Breen, and Murphy be invited to attend. These Officers were immediately available, and as a result of further parley, Commandant McKeon submitted the following alternative proposals:—
"Recognising that it is a fundamental duty of Government to make available for the people the advantages gained by the War for Independence, and that the people so desire it, and accepting the fact that Dáil Éireann has by a majority approved of the Treaty, which is the vehicle of these advantages, and accepting also the position created in the country by this approval, we are of opinion that a contested election now would be attended by civil strife which would result in a dissipation of these advantages and a worsening of our national position.
"Accepting this and desirous of avoiding such a conflict in the best interests of the nation, we recommend
"(a) An agreed Election.
"(b) A Coalition Government which will have the confidence of the whole country.
"Having suggested the deletion of certain portions of the above which were the expression of the pro-Treaty point of view and absolutely opposed to our position, Deputy Boland further suggested that Commandant McKeon would secure the assent of his colleagues and place before the Committee proposals as from his whole Party. This was agreed to, and the delegations adjourned to consult their respective Headquarters.
"On resumption, Deputy McKeon handed in the following on behalf of his Party:—
"Mindful of our obligations to the Irish nation and recognising that our common ideal is the good of Ireland, it is realised that the most pressing necessity at the present moment is unity of the forces that have worked together for the past six years; we realise further that practically the whole country has the strong feeling that peace and order must be restored and preserved and that means must be found for looking after the urgent social and economic needs of the nation.
"Recognising also that it is a fundamental duty of Government to make available for the people the advantages gained by the War for Independence and that the people so desire it, and accepting the fact that Dáil Éireann has by a majority approved of the Treaty which is the vehicle of these advantages, and accepting also the position created in the country by this approval, we are of opinion that a contested election might be attended by civil strife which might result in a dissipation of these advantages and a worsening of our national position.
"Accepting this and desirous of avoiding such a conflict in the best interests of the nation, we recommend:
"(a) An agreed Election.
"(b) A Coalition Government after the election which will have the confidence of the whole country."
"In representing these proposals, Commandant McKeon stated that, in his opinion, there would be little difficulty in matters of detail for a settlement if an unanimous consent were given to the preamble as a basis. We again objected to the portion of this preamble which was inconsistent with our position, and suggested that we leave for the moment the preamble without prejudice and get down to the details of the settlement which were, after all, the essential and vital concern of the Committee.
This the other side would not agree to, and insisted that the preamble should be accepted by us, without alteration, as a preliminary to any further discussion. At this point, regretfully we came to the conclusion that it was useless for the Committee to continue its labours, our opinion being that the other side were more concerned with committing us to an acceptance of the Treaty than with working out a detailed scheme of settlement.
"Respectfully Submitted:
"(Signatures) Kathleen Clarke, Chairman, Seán O Maolaoin, P. Ruttledge, Liam O Maoliosa, Enri O Beolain."
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