Letter from Joseph P. Walshe to Frederick H. Boland (Dublin)
(91/48) (20/54)

My dear Secretary,
With regard to your Circular Instructions of the 4th June, on the question of Partition,¹ I wish to say that, so far as I am concerned, I miss no occasion of bringing the matter before those with whom I come in contact. I am constantly asked for a pamphlet or a very short brochure or even a leaflet setting out the situation clearly. Unfortunately, so far as my knowledge extends, there has not yet been published a brochure which presents the case in a manner entirely suitable to the continental mind. Would it be possible to produce such a publication in Dublin? It could be re-published in the different European languages.

To be of real effect, it must be somewhat pungent in style and the case must be based strongly and primarily on the fact that the continuing occupation of part of our country by the British constitutes a grave violation of our national sovereignty and is, in itself, a fundamental act of international injustice. Although gerrymandering is an important aspect of the situation, it is rather more accidental than essential, and any excessive emphasis placed on it would raise the assumption in the continental mind that an impartial administration under Britain might provide a compromise settlement. The audacity of the British attitude in basing their claim to our territory on a purely British act of Parliament should be exposed and vigorously castigated.

Incidentally the brochure intended for continental consumption should contain a short résumé of Irish history. We cannot proceed on the hypothesis that there is any widespread, still less any accurate knowledge of Irish history amongst continentals, and to treat Partition without giving a solid background of Irish history, as a whole, establishing our right to be treated as a separate nation, would be to leave them even more bewildered than the anti-Irish propaganda of Britain has left them in the past.

Speaking to British and American friends, acquaintances, or passing visitors, I have constantly to correct the impression that we have never been serious about the Partition issue. Mr. David Gray's opinion, so often expressed to me, that we maintained the agitation in a relatively minor key, ultimately for internal political purposes, without really caring whether Partition were ended or not, is very widespread indeed, even amongst Continentals who follow Irish affairs.

Our representatives abroad can reach only relatively small circles by word of mouth, but a brochure of the type suggested could be given a wide diffusion from each of our posts and it would, I have no doubt, have some positive influence, as a first step, towards creating a better understanding of our real attitude.

There is no reason to fear that the diffusion of the right kind of propaganda prudently effected should have any adverse influence on the efficiency of any mission abroad. And this is especially true at a time when so much propaganda is being done by Governments and by national groups.