Letter from Frederick H. Boland to Robert Brennan (Washington DC), Seán Murphy (Paris) and John J. Hearne (Ottawa)
(Secret and Personal)

There was no special significance in the talk with Morrison last week. He indicated before he came over that he would like to see the Taoiseach on his return through Dublin, but he did not suggest that he had anything particular to say and, in fact, he hadn't.

The Taoiseach and he had a conversation lasting an hour and three quarters. Our position vis-à-vis the Commonwealth and the question of Partition were discussed. The talk was frank but not unfriendly. So far as Morrison is concerned, there is no change in the British Government's attitude about Partition.

Morrison gave the impression of being glib, as sharp as a knife and full of a rather false kind of bonhomie. His manners leave something to be desired. Even the British Legation here were abashed by the tone of his statement about his Dublin and Belfast visits published in our newspapers of the 12th September.¹ It is curious that he, a Labour Minister, should have chosen to stay in Belfast with Sir Basil Brooke when it was open to him to have chosen the more neutral ground of Government House. The fact is that he has probably carried over from the days of the Coalition a tendency to look at some things from a Churchillian angle.