Memorandum on passports from Joseph P. Walshe to Eamon de Valera

TAOISEACH, MINISTER FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

I must admit I do not feel entirely happy about our instruction to the High Commissioner.¹

Let us take, first of all, the hypothesis that the British acquiesce, however reluctantly, and do not take any fresh measures to render our passport less effective for its purpose. The only external evidence of our association with the States of the Commonwealth disappears. This would be followed by the general assumption that we do not belong to the association at all. A lessening of interests on the part of Canada and South Africa in our constitutional welfare must then be expected. They will say that, if we do not want to make public mention of our association with them, they are under no corporate obligation to influence the British Government in our regard. And in this connection we must admit that in the whole course of our evolution towards our present status we have had the powerful moral support of Canada and South Africa and, to some extent, also, of Australia. Up to now so long as we gave tangible external evidence of belonging to the group they felt that their own vital interests were involved in any attack made on our interests, especially our constitutional and political interests, by the British Government. The feeling of solidarity is still a very real one. So long as the principal Members of the Commonwealth other than Great Britain stand by us, we can maintain our independence even in the extremely difficult circumstances of the world war which seems to be rushing upon us. If we isolate ourselves - and the British can make this new step appear to be a definite move away from the Commonwealth - it seems to me that we are, to some degree at any rate, leaving ourselves at the mercy of any party in Great Britain who wishes to restore the unity of these islands. No one can foretell whether such a movement may not occur at the very beginning of the world war, and if Great Britain only just escapes defeat - as is the most likely hypotheses - the movement for unity is bound to come at the end of the war. Our re-absorption in the United Kingdom is a continuing danger so long as the world crisis persists, and I believe that solidarity with the Members of the British Commonwealth is a much greater protection against that happening than the goodwill of the United States.

As far as the use of the King's name is concerned, the arguments in its favour are not very so strong, but its omission can have an almost similar effect on the minds of the principal associated States in so far as their influence on our future destiny is concerned. It also can be questioned whether the omission of the King's name from the passport is not going to make our task in the restoration of the unity of Ireland much more difficult.

We cannot forget that so far in these politico-constitutional matters the British have exercised a restraint far greater than their normal usage should lead us to expect. Can we be sure that this restraint will continue to be exercised? If they so desired, they could make use of the new modifications to wage such a subtle campaign against us as would leave us very little of the strong support which we now have in Great Britain itself and in the Dominions.

The more likely hypothesis is that the British Government will react violently to the new suggestions, refusing to grant us the good offices of their representatives if we make the changes. Are we prepared in that case to persevere nevertheless and to suffer the consequences?

On the whole, I respectfully suggest that you should not take this step without a preliminary personal conversation with Mr. MacDonald, in the course of which you would be able to gauge the likely reactions. Otherwise, trivial though the matter appears on the surface, we may be letting ourselves in for endless trouble altogether out of proportion to the immediate gain. It is quite conceivable that unless we proceed with the greatest caution at this vital moment all the astounding advances of the last six years may be brought to naught. The² basis of the concessions in the Trade Agreements is Imperial preference i.e. in making it we admitted membership of the Commonwealth. For the British, I have no doubt the passport, is the badge of Ireland. The King can cease to exist elsewhere in our Constitutional system by inanition i.e. if the Government cease to advise him to do anything. Over that the British can exercise no control. They could make our passport useless.