Statement by Éamon de Valera to the closing session of the Conference of European Economic Co-operation

We should be very grateful to the American Secretary of State whose speech at Harvard gave our nations this great opportunity for coming together in mutual help. We are all pleased that the opportunity has been so well availed of. May I express the hope that the cooperation now so significantly begun will continue long into the future.

To seek from another what one could supply by one's own efforts is always unworthy. It is doubly so when the assistance is requested from a friend who has proved himself generous repeatedly. I am happy to sign this report on behalf of Ireland because I believe it to be an honest report. In it self-help is recognised as a primary duty, and no more aid is sought than is absolutely necessary if the damage of the war years is to be repaired within a reasonable time and the nations of Western Europe restored to a position in which they can provide for their own needs and preserve their traditional civilisation.

The manner in which the members of the Committee of Cooperation and the Technical Committees have devoted themselves to their work is beyond praise. They have compressed into a few months an effort which ordinarily might have extended over years. Their report is a model of presentation. It can be read and understood by every citizen. The advice and inspiration of our American friends has been invaluable.

I would like to express our deep appreciation of what has been accomplished. The work we are doing to-day is good work. I pray that it may have a prosperous issue.