Extract from the Minutes of a meeting between James J. McElligott, G.P.S. Hogan, S.P. Murray¹
and Ernest Rowe-Dutton held on 4 September 1947

[matter omitted]

10. Mr. McElligott said he had had a discussion with An Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance before leaving Dublin and that he could say that the Irish Government are anxious that confidence in sterling should be maintained and that we are prepared to co-operate in measures to that end, on the assumption, of course, that these measures will serve the common interest of the countries of the sterling group, and that they will be such as will enable Ireland to provide to the fullest extent for the utilisation and development of her productive resources. Ireland could have helped a great deal more in the struggle for economic recovery if she had got more coal, coke, steel products, fertilizers, agricultural equipment and other necessary raw materials and capital goods, and the question of the economies which Ireland ought to be expected to make as a useful contribution at the present time was intimately bound up with the state of trade between Ireland and Great Britain. If we got fair prices for our goods we would be encouraged to export more and thus reduce Britain's dollar expenditure, and if we were sold the necessary raw materials and capital equipment from Great Britain we could further reduce dollar expenditure both on our own account and by further increases of exports. The Government's views on the matter would, Mr. McElligott said, be communicated to Lord Rugby in Dublin today.²