[4][6] Murray's January 1933 draft, The Irish Case for Communism, was adopted as the CPI manifesto Ireland's Path to Freedom at its June 1933 congress.
The manifesto advocated replacing Fianna Fáil and the Irish Republican Army in leading the national struggle, aiming to establish a "workers' and farmers' republic.
At the meeting, CPI general secretary Seán Murray argued that achieving socialism required first ousting British imperialism (rather than the other way around), a stance backed by Nora Connolly O'Brien and others.
However, the final vote favoured the broader republican goal, causing a split as O'Brien and Michael Price led a faction out.
[1] A strong anti-communist public backlash in Ireland occurred around the time of the Spanish Civil War due to the perception that the Popular Front cause was anti-Catholic.
Faced with the challenge of completely altering their talking points on war and promoting a pro-war position in neutral Ireland, the CPI voted 11–9 on 10 July 1941 "to suspend independent activity and to apply the forces of the Branch to working in the Labour and trade union organisations in order to carry forward the fight against the heavy attacks now being launched against the workers.