Memorandum by John Leydon on discussions in London concerning civil aviation and foreign exchange

1. The Tánaiste saw Lord Winster, Minister for Civil Aviation, on the 4th October. Sir William Hildred, Director General of Civil Aviation, Mr. Thomas of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Mr. Leydon were later invited to join in the discussion.
2. Mr. Lemass explained that the Irish Government were anxious to arrange for a resumption of the Dublin/London service - they were also anxious to arrange for the establishment of feeder services connecting with the Transatlantic air services at Shannon Airport and operating to points in the United Kingdom and points beyond, for example Scandinavia, Belgium, Holland. He also expressed the opinion that the arrangements between the two countries in air transport matters should be regulated by a bilateral agreement.
3. Lord Winster said that he was anxious to establish the fullest co-operation in air transport with the Irish Government. He was prepared to allow the resumption of the Dublin/London service and suggested that the other matters should be discussed between officials in the first instance. He agreed with Mr. Lemass's view that a bilateral agreement between the two countries should be concluded as soon as possible.
4. The discussion then turned to Shannon Airport and the future of flying-boats. On the first point Sir William Hildred said that they would have a definite interest in Shannon Airport for a very considerable time to come and possibly for always. Lord Winster said that this attitude was based on commercial considerations and that he would not let political considerations enter into decisions of this kind.
5. On the question of flying-boats, Sir William Hildred said that he did not think that flying-boats could by any means be regarded as having disappeared, or being about to disappear, from the scene of Transatlantic operations. Their technicians are keeping the matter under review and they promised to keep us informed of any developments in flying-boat design or otherwise likely to bring flying-boats back into the picture. They agreed with our view that it would be unwise to proceed with the dredging of the flying-boat anchorage at this stage.
6. Lord Winster mentioned in the course of discussion about the economics of air transport that it is his aim to abolish subsidies to air transport; he is anxious to see them abolished by all countries.
7. The question of aircraft was then discussed and Mr. Lemass and Mr. Leydon were invited to see the 'Viking'¹ which is now being tested. Mr. Leydon said that Aer Lingus had been keeping in touch with the development of new types of British aircraft and he expressed a personal preference for the 'Ambassador'² or the 'Wayfarer'.³ These were admittedly further off than the Viking and they are, of course, considerably larger but he himself would be prepared to take the risk of putting aircraft of this capacity on the Dublin/London service as soon as possible. Sir William Hildred agreed with this view. Mr. Leydon said that other things being equal, Aer Lingus would prefer to buy British aircraft; but a small Company such as Aer Lingus cannot afford to experiment with new and untried types. Lord Winster and Sir William Hildred accepted this view as being quite reasonable and expressed themselves as gratified with the indication of a general preference for British aircraft. They invited the Tánaiste and Mr. Leydon to go to see the Viking at the Vickers-Armstrong aircraft factory at Weybridge. The invitation was accepted; a car was placed at our disposal by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and we were accompanied by an officer of the Department on our visit. We were shown the Viking and were informed that the firm expects to be in a position to deliver eight aircraft of this type before the end of March 1946.

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12. Mr. Cribbett⁴ asked Mr. Leydon 'off the record' what would be his view about the question of Irish representation on the Commonwealth Air Transport Council. Mr. Leydon said that he would naturally be most anxious to be aware of all developments in connection with air transport and all important schemes under consideration, as these might well have a bearing on Irish policy. He added, however, that the question of membership of the Commonwealth Air Transport Council raised questions which were outside his province and he could not give a reply without consultation with his authorities.

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18. Throughout the discussions Sir William Hildred and Mr. Cribbett were most friendly and anxious for the fullest co-operation. Each of them, on separate occasions, mentioned privately to Mr. Leydon that they had, as officials, been most anxious in recent years to establish closer relations with us in civil aviation matters and that they had been bitterly disappointed at their failure to secure approval for their proposals to this end. Now, however, they had to their immense relief got instructions to pursue a course of close and friendly co-operation with us. They had no fault to find with us for making our bilateral Air Transport Agreement with the US Government; they recognised that our first duty was to look after our own interests; they thought it a very good Agreement from our point of view, but said they were surprised that the Americans had accepted the condition which requires a stop at Shannon Airport on every eastbound and westbound flight. They have had many discussions with the Americans with a view to the conclusion of a bilateral agreement, and they expect to reach a basis for such an agreement before Christmas; but they have no intention of modifying to any appreciable extent the attitude they adopted at Chicago and have maintained since then.

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III. F O R E I G N   E X C H A N G E

23. Mr. Leydon had an opportunity of a short conversation with Mr. Rowe-Dutton after the luncheon given by the British Government in honour of the Tánaiste. He suggested that Mr. Rowe-Dutton might find an early opportunity of coming to Dublin; the Department of Finance would be very glad to discuss various matters with him. Mr. Rowe-Dutton said that while he would like very much to come to Dublin, he cannot very well get away in the immediate future and, in any event, the situation is not yet ripe for discussions. Mr. Leydon then suggested that Mr. McElligott should go to London at an early date for discussions with the Treasury but Mr. Rowe-Dutton repeated that they are not ready in London for such discussions. It was not found possible to obtain any detailed information as to the progress of the discussions in Washington about the foreign exchange problem but the general impression was gained that a reasonably satisfactory settlement is anticipated by the British.

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