In Search of the Promised Land: The Politics of Post-War Ireland

Murphy argues against the thesis of Tom Garvin and his work, Preventing the Future. In that book, Garvin argues that old culture, old ideas and the repression of the Church held Ireland's development in check through the 1940s and 1950s. Gary Murphy suggests that the Irish government and civil service leaders were in fact open to change and new ideas and this openness led them to adopt outward-looking policies.