Letter from Frederick H. Boland to Joseph P. Walshe (Holy See)
(Secret)

My dear Ambassador,
I was sorry to hear from your recent reports that you have not been well. I always heard that Rome was very trying in July and August. Could you not get away for a time to the hills or to Switzerland? When even the students leave Rome at this time of the year, you would probably run a risk in trying to stick it out, particularly as you have had so little time to get used to the climate.

I hope the negotiations for the house are going satisfactorily. I read all your messages, both about the house and the car, to the Taoiseach, and, if it had not been for his personal intervention, we would not have the decisions even yet. It is not a sign of neglect that the sanction for an expenditure of £37,000 takes some time to get. It is just that, where large expenditures are concerned, the administrative machinery is simply not geared for quick action. Even the President was telling me the other evening how long it takes to get sanction for even small essential expenditures at Áras an Uachtaráin.

Even about the car, we had the greatest difficulty. After weeks of consideration, our request for the sanction was turned down, and, if it had not been for the personal intervention of Jimmy McElligott, we would be still without the authority.

That is the position, not only as regards the Embassy, but as regards all our missions abroad. Submissions from this Department to the Department of Finance take months to consider, and even then the decisions are unsympathetic. That has been the case for the last two and a half years, and, although the Taoiseach has been made aware of the position, there is no sign of any change.

I would not like you to have the feeling that the Taoiseach does not see your reports. On the contrary, we are following the practice of sending him over at once reports from all the heads of missions other than those on routine office matters. He reads them carefully and takes great interest in them. In fact, we are just about to ask heads of missions in future to send us their reports, on other than office matters, in duplicate on foolscap paper with the wide margin and treble spacing, so that they can go over to the Taoiseach at once without the delay in having them retyped here.

The Taoiseach has had the report of your conversation with Cardinal Pizzardo for some time and, in the end, has decided to write to you personally on the question of the successor to the present Nuncio.¹ He is still of the opinion that what is much more important than the nationality is the quality of the man himself. Italian nationality would be no bar if the appointee were a man of broad outlook and of a flexible, understanding type of mind. But there is still the gulf between the Italian outlook and the traditional and deeply-entrenched attitude of the Hierarchy here, and, as you yourself always apprehended, a Nuncio who came here with the assumption of the inherent superiority of Roman ways and the right of the Italians to a pre-eminent place in the Church - and the successive Secretaries at the Nunciature have shown how widespread that tendency is - might be a source of great trouble and embarrassment.

We are making our application for membership of UNO today. Portugal is applying tomorrow, and, according to latest information, the applications of Sweden and Iceland will also be in before the 5th August, the latest date for applying. It was curious that there was no dissentient to the Resolution in the Dáil, particularly as the Deputies were just on the eve of returning to their constituencies for the Summer recess. Russia would probably stymie us if she could do so with impunity, but she already has three candidates up herself, and Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Finland will probably be coming along later. If we are elected, the likelihood is that the Taoiseach will go to New York for the Assembly meeting. That will be at the end of September.

Herbert Morrison is coming over here on the 15th August for three weeks' holiday at Glengarriff. He had indicated a wish to see the Taoiseach on his way home through Dublin. There is no indication what he wants to see the Taoiseach about, but there are several evidences that Anglo-Irish relations have recently been on the Cabinet agenda in London, and that the British Government may be prepared to do something to remove the obstacles to better relations between the two countries.

I am seeing the Archbishop this afternoon and I will talk to him on the lines of your letter of the 19th about the Croatian students.² We are being rather plagued at the moment by a plethora of emissaries from Catholic authorities and organizations in Europe coming to this country to quest for money and aid. An emissary from the Cardinal Primate of Hungary - a man named Dr. Kosinsky - came here some time ago and received from the Archbishop a personal donation of £2,000 for the Cardinal Primate, as well as other aid for various Catholic activities in Hungary to which His Eminence attached importance. Within the last ten days, two more emissaries from the Cardinal Primate of Hungary have arrived here and have asked His Grace for more funds and for permission to quest in the Diocese. Both men are penniless and have been living in a hotel at His Grace's expense. His Grace, who, I think, has every right to feel aggrieved at being so much put upon, has got very tired of these two gentlemen and has asked us, if possible to rid him of them by putting them out!

At the request of the Spanish Hierarchy, made through the Spanish Minister here, His Grace sent Father Glennon to represent him at the Pax Romana Congress in Spain. Father Glennon was very much impressed by all he heard and saw during his visit. The question of reopening Salamanca³ is now on the tapis.

We have been doing a good deal to champion Spain and Italy at international conferences. We opposed the exclusion of Spain from the International Broadcasting Organisation at Brussels and from the new International Health Organisation which is being set up by UNO. In each case, we virtually led the opposition to the anti-Spanish bloc, and, in both cases, the opposition was successful. Seán Leydon opposed an effort to exclude Italy from the International Air Conference at Montreal, and he also succeeded.

Kiernan left yesterday for Australia. He will land at Melbourne and will see Dr. Mannix,⁴ privately and unofficially, before he goes up to Canberra. He went off very bucked at the idea of five years in Australia, and understandably so. I would not mind at all changing places with him myself, and, when he was here about a fortnight ago, Seán Murphy - who, I thought, was looking better and was in better form than he has been for some time - told me that he would have liked the Australian post. He is anxious to leave Paris and he told the Taoiseach so. He mentioned New Zealand to me. Mainly from the point of view of the children, I think, he seems to have a preference for an English-speaking country overseas.

I hope you will be able to get away and leave the oppressive summer atmosphere of Rome for some time. I am hoping to get away on Monday for a fortnight or so. Leo is getting married on the 2nd September and will not be back much before the end of that month. The pressure of work in the Department continues to be very heavy, but we have just got sanction for a second Counsellor and a new Section⁵ of which Sheila Murphy will take charge.

With kindest regards,