[3] Frustrated by the lack of progress of the ISRP, he left and joined the Young Ireland Society and the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), soon becoming a member of its three-person executive.

[1] Daly was also active in Cumann na nGaedheal, and when it merged with the Dungannon Clubs to form the Sinn Féin League in 1907, he was elected as its president.

[5][8] By 1910, he was part of a young clique which published Irish Freedom and sought to take control of the IRB, but he was expelled on charges of embezzling funds donated from the United States.

[9] Heavily involved in the labour movement, Daly was elected to Parliamentary Committee of the Irish Trades Union Congress (ITUC) in 1905.

[19][20] Following disappointing results, the trades council reaffiliated with the Labour Party,[19] and Daly focused his efforts on establishing the Workers' Union of Ireland.