Letter from Frederick H. Boland to Seán Nunan (Washington DC)
(Personal and Confidential)

David Gray left Ireland on the 28th June on the S.S. 'America' sailing from Cobh. I needn't tell you that no tears were shed at his departure.

Outwardly, however, he left here on good terms with everybody. The Taoiseach gave him an official farewell dinner on the 23rd June. He proposed the health of David and Mrs. Gray in a speech which everyone present - including David Gray himself - acclaimed as a masterpiece. There was not an insincere word in it, but it was without the slightest trace of bitterness or ill-feeling. The Taoiseach expressed the hope that Mr. & Mrs. Gray would re-visit Ireland in their private capacity, as the President had invited them to do. David was moved by the speech and replied not ungenerously, thanking the Taoiseach for his invariable personal courtesy towards him and describing the Taoiseach as one of the greatest living statesmen.

David Gray paid his farewell visit to the Taoiseach on the 26th June and they had a talk lasting three-quarters of an hour. There was frank speaking on both sides about the past, but, once again, no note of personal bitterness. We extended special courtesy to David when he was embarking at Cobh, sending a corvette to take him out to the liner instead of leaving him to the discomforts of the public tender. We understand that he particularly appreciated this touch.

I am telling you all this in the hope that it may help you in shaping your attitude towards David if you should meet him in Washington. The Taoiseach's feeling is that there is no good, at this stage, going back over the past and that nothing is lost, now that we are being rid of this turbulent representative, by an attitude of correctness and courtesy. There is no guarantee, of course, that, in his inmost heart, David Gray shares these feelings. Many people here suspect he is writing a book and we have our fingers crossed on that!