Letter from Joseph P. Walshe to Frederick H. Boland (Dublin)¹
(Secret)

I was very glad indeed to receive Mr. Belton's report of the British attempt to have Éire substituted for Ireland in the records of the FAO Conference at Copenhagen.²

It is most annoying that the old perverse anti-Irish prejudices of the DO are still allowed full scope, even under a Labour Government. It is a warning for us that we have to redouble our propaganda and publicity about the six counties. It is a pity that we have to abandon the 'Ireland (Éire)' in one copy of future agreements, because the British will say that they have yielded a point. After all, the two copies are to count equally, and in one of them they can say that, by our signature we are accepting 'Éire' alone, with the connotation which they so unscrupulously give it when it does stand alone. Unless you have forestalled them in your agreement with Maffey (and I am sure you have done that) they will only publish the copy containing 'Éire', and it is unfortunately true that their version is the one that gets out to the world.

Clearly the British are as determined as ever to go through the complete annexation of the six counties, a worse piece of chicanery and iniquity than any that has taken place in Europe, because, in no case that I know of, does the territory involved so clearly, according to nature and history, belong to the nation from which it was taken. Obviously you are now going to hear a lot from Maffey about the 'covered way' to the port of Liverpool, unless he has become more canny than he was in those early days of his Irish adventure. We shall be told that the Russian menace obliges them to hold on to the six counties more strongly than ever. The fact that their whole case against Russia is that she is playing the same unscrupulous game, but with much less skill, never seems to occur to them. The cool impertinence of the British passes all bounds. Even the Nazis, had they won the war and taken a part of French territory, would hardly have dared to object to the French people calling their country France.

It was most fortunate that Dr. Ryan was at the Conference to convey the Taoiseach's final NO, and what a splendid lieutenant Belton proved. The case of direct representation of the Taoiseach, through somebody from the Department, at all technical conferences is now finally proved.

I shall be most grateful for all details of any developments on this and cognate issues. You never know when they will extend their activities to the title of our missions abroad. For my part, I should almost welcome such a development.