Letter from William Warnock to Frederick H. Boland (Dublin)
(43/33)

Dear Mr. Boland,

With your minute of the 29th August you sent us a letter to be forwarded to Mr Charles Bewley. In view of the uncertain conditions at the time, I returned it in our mailbag No. 98, as so far as I am aware Mr. Bewley was then in Dublin. It occurs to me now that the mailbag may have gone astray, as we have not yet received the relevant receipted schedule from the Department. Mr. Bewley is at the moment in Berlin, staying at the Hotel Russischer Hof, but I have no idea how long he intends to remain here. He left Dublin about the middle of September.

If any of our correspondence to you is missing, I shall send you duplicates.

On two occasions recently at the Foreign Office officials have asked me when the new Irish Minister is expected to arrive. Dr. Woermann, Under-Secretary of State, mentioned that it would be a sign of the good relations existing between us if the new Minister could come soon. I have, however, always avoided this question, as I read a few weeks ago in the 'Irish Times' that there were difficulties as regards the Letters of Credence. I should much appreciate your guidance in this connection. I should be glad of a hint as to whether I am likely to be alone for some time to come (assuming that the war is long drawn-out). I am thinking of domestic matters concerning my residence in the Legation premises. This brings me to another point.

The competent official of the Foreign Office has asked me – verbally – when we are going to make up our minds about the Legation building. We have now been holding them off for several years, and at last they are showing signs of impatience. I think that, even if we do not purchase, the Ministry of Finance, which controls the property, would be willing to allow us to remain on as tenants under a new agreement after the end of next year, when the present lease expires. We held them off for another while by telling them that we would have to wait for the new Minister's opinion. That was two months ago, and the effect has now worn off somewhat.

We are right in the middle of the new diplomatic quarter, and I think that it will be a tragedy if we let the house go. We have frontages in the Drakestrasse and the Rauchstrasse. New Legations are being built all around us, and when they are completed our neighbours will be as follows:

1. Drakestrasse
   Hungary, Yugoslavia, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Denmark round the corner.
2. Rauchstrasse
   Papal Nunciature, Cuba, Finland, Netherlands, Roumania, Switzerland.

Nearby in the Tiergartenstrasse are, or will be, Argentine, Chile, Iran, Italy, Japan, Turkey.

Furthermore, the Drakestrasse is easily reached from the business quarters of the city.

I should value your advice in one thing more than any other, and that is, in the writing of reports, because I am not at all sure as to what matters interest you particularly.

Please accept my best wishes for the Department.