Confidential report from John W. Dulanty to Frederick H. Boland (Dublin)
(Secret Report No. 8)

When yesterday evening I handed the Aide Mémoire about the arrest of His Eminence Cardinal Mindszenty to Mr. Noel-Baker, his first comment on glancing at its contents was that, unlike other questions we had recently discussed, there would be no disagreement between us on this.

Following the line of the Minister's note of the 26th January,¹ I enlarged upon the widespread feeling of distress of mind of the people of Ireland caused by the arrest of the Cardinal. I emphasised the astonishing mannerlessness of the Hungarian Government in their failure to make any reply to, or even acknowledgment of, the telegrams sent by the Irish Government. I told him of my repeated requests for information to the Hungarian Minister in London. This continued ignoring by the Hungarian Government of our Minister's official representations we felt was an ominous foreboding and were afraid that the worst might happen.

Mr. Noel-Baker said that whilst there might be continued imprisonment, he did not think that the Hungarian Government would go to the length of killing the Cardinal.

Hungary, he thought, would be the first country to be released from behind the Russian curtain immediately any reconstruction of Europe was achieved.

I referred to an answer which Mr. Mayhew² gave in the House of Commons on the subject of the Cardinal's arrest where he had indicated a willingness to take whatever action might be possible. Would Mr. Noel-Baker be good enough to consider whether the British Government would take the opportunity of supporting my Government in their solemn protest? There was, I suggested, no lack of evidence that the British people, in common with the rest of the democratically-minded world, abhorred the despotism and shameless violation of freedom which marked the arrest of the Cardinal.

Mr. Noel-Baker, though fearing that the Foreign Office might take the line of non-interference in internal affairs of other countries, said he would, nevertheless, see the Foreign Secretary without delay and urge that some action should be taken forthwith.