Letter from Frederick H. Boland to Don Eduardo T. Hunter¹ (Dublin)

Dear Consul General,
I must apologise for my delay in letting you have the information for which you asked me with regard to our claims against Governments of Axis countries for compensation in respect of war damage.

So far as we are concerned, the question arises principally as regards Germany. When the war in Europe ended, we had already presented to the German Government claims amounting to about £500,000. Of this total, £450,000 was in respect of damage done when German aircraft dropped bombs on the North Strand area of Dublin in 1941. The balance of the total was made up of bomb damage done at Campile, Co. Wexford, and expenses incurred in respect of German air and naval personnel interned in this country. In addition to these items in respect of which, the German Government having expressly admitted liability, detailed claims were presented, we had a number of other claims against the German Government, arising principally in respect of attacks on shipping. The German Government had disclaimed liability in respect of these claims, the exact amount of which has not yet been exactly determined.

As I said, claims amounting to about £500,000 had already been presented to the German Government when hostilities in Europe came to an end. Efforts to obtain payment of these claims otherwise than in German Reichsmarks having proved unsuccessful, an Order was made by the Irish Government on the 11th August, 1944, under which it became obligatory for every person, company and corporation in Ireland accountable to any person, company or corporation in Germany for the payment of any debt, rent, Bank balance, dividend, interest, etc., to furnish full particulars of the obligation to the Department of Finance in Dublin, and, if so required, to pay the amount of the obligation to the Minister for Finance.²

I enclose a copy of this Order, under which about £100,000 has already been paid to the Minister for Finance and credited against the amount of the Irish Government's claims against the German Government.

I should, perhaps, say, in order to put the matter in proper perspective, that the German Government itself acquiesced in the making of the Order of the 11th August, 1944, and indicated its intention of compensating the German creditors affected in Reichsmarks.

I hope that the foregoing gives you all the information which you require to enable you to reply to the enquiry received from your Government.