Minute by Nicholas Nolan

The presentation of the Credentials of Dr. Bessone, the Argentine Minister, on Saturday last, the 31st ult., was marked by an important departure from previous procedure in these matters in that the Letter of Credence itself was addressed to the President.

All previous Letters of Credence accrediting foreign heads of Mission here have been addressed to the King, ever since the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922.

Apparently the addressing of Dr. Bessone's Letter of Credence to the President was done by the Argentine authorities without the prior knowledge of the Department of External Affairs. The alternative, to accepting the Letter as addressed, of returning the Letter to the Argentine authorities requesting them to address it to King George VI instead of to the President was, I understand, considered and rejected. The President was actually described in the Letter as 'Presidente del Estados Libre de Irlanda', but it was evidently decided not to ask the Argentine authorities to amend the Letter in this respect.

The fact that the Letter of Credence was addressed to the President necessitated some changes in the details of the ceremonies in connexion with the presentation of the Credentials of the Argentine Minister and these changes are set out in the accompanying copies of the relevant papers from file S.14210. On arrival at the Éras immediately after the presentation ceremony, the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Minister for External Affairs and officials proceeded to a drawing-room in which the President awaited them, the Minister for External Affairs handed the Letter of Credence to the President, who opened and read it and then handed it to the Taoiseach, who in turn handed it to the Secretary to the Government, who retained it for filing with the State Papers. The Argentine Minister was subsequently presented to the President, who entertained the party to lunch.

Changes, as compared with previous similar ceremonies, that were made in the details of the ceremonies which were independent of the change in the method of addressing the Letter of Credence but were due rather to the change of Government that took place on the 18th February last were:

1. the venue of the actual presentation ceremony was changed from St. Patrick's Hall in Dublin Castle to the Ballroom in Iveagh House - due, I gather, to a desire on the part of the present Government to dissociate the ceremony from any still-lingering pre-1922 traditions of Dublin Castle;
2. the mounted escort of Army officers and non-commissioned officers for the Minister presenting his Credentials was replaced by an escort of military police on motor-bicycles - consequential on the substitution of a motor-cycle escort for the mounted escort for ceremonial use (see minute of 13.4.1948 on file S10056);
3. the Taoiseach handed the Letter of Credence, when it was presented to him at the presentation ceremony, to the Minister for External Affairs and not to the Secretary to the Government as hitherto. I am not aware of the reason for this change; it may, however, have been dictated by the consideration that, having regard to the fact that, the Taoiseach being no longer also Minister for External Affairs, it was necessary to accommodate one more Minister on the present occasion and that, as a result, it was found more convenient to have the Letter handed to the Minister for External Affairs rather than to the Secretary of the Government, who would be standing in the row behind the Minister.

A point that should be watched on future occasions is that, when alighting on arrival at Iveagh House, the party in the Taoiseach's car (as well as the party in the Parliamentary Secretary's car) should alight on the St. Stephen's-Green side, and not on the Iveagh-House side, of the car. On the present occasion the party in the Taoiseach's car alighted on the Iveagh House side of the car, with the result that the Taoiseach's car was between the party, standing on the footpath, and the guard of honour and band, drawn up on the roadway.