Letter from Frederick H. Boland to Joseph P. Walshe (Holy See)
(Secret)

My dear Ambassador,
Your letter about Monsignor Montini's enquiry¹ regarding our attitude towards the North Atlantic Pact arrived here just as we were sending you the enclosed material - copy of a general circular instruction which we have sent to the Heads of Missions and the full text of our reply to the American démarche.² The Minister handed the latter to the American Minister here yesterday, and Seán Nunan is presenting it to the Secretary of State in Washington today.

There is no objection to your letting Monsignor Montini have the full text of the Aide-Mémoire for his confidential information, if you think fit.

As you will see, our reply to the American Government follows the line of what you yourself said to Monsignor Montini. For your confidential information, I should, perhaps, add that, although the Aide-Mémoire concludes with the suggestion that all the participating countries should intervene to settle the Partition problem, the major objective of our present efforts is to get the United States or Canada, or both, to act. We have a sound logical basis for this suggestion. Obviously, the logical corollary of joint responsibility for security in the North Atlantic area is that all the participating countries have a common concern in any situation, such as Partition, which interferes with the harmony and solidarity of the North Atlantic community, and, this being so, the United States, as the country on whom the principal burden of the new collective arrangement is bound to fall, has the best right of all the participating countries to take the initiative. It would be a tremendous help if the Vatican could be got to encourage the United States Government in this view, however tentatively and indirectly.

The Minister would be glad if you would urge this latter consideration as strongly as you can on Monsignor Montini. You will see from the Aide-Mémoire that the Irish Government has officially expressed its full agreement with the purposes of the proposed North Atlantic Pact - the preservation of Christian civilisation and the democratic way of life. It is only the problem of Partition which prevents us taking our place in the new security set-up and completing the chain of North Atlantic defence. We know that hitherto the Americans have refused to intervene on the Partition problem, but they are quite frank in stating that their attitude in this regard is one of policy, not of principle. Having regard to the tremendous American interest in North Atlantic security, and the great influence for harmony and cohesion which we could exert in the new set-up, there is a better prospect now than ever existed before of getting the United States Government to take the Partition problem seriously, and a word from the Vatican might be the decisive factor in inclining them towards doing so. The matter is so important from our point of view that we should not, I think, allow respect for the Vatican's unwillingness to face embarrassing political assignments to deter us from making such a constructive suggestion.

The other point worth stressing is the great urgency of a solution of Partition. In the Minister's view, the negotiations for the North Atlantic Pact offer a particularly suitable opportunity for tackling the problem which may not recur. Moreover, the mounting resentment of Irish opinion, not only here but abroad, and the decline of confidence in the possibility of a solution by peaceable democratic means, represents a terrible danger. If something is not done now, the problem may at any time present itself in an acute form in circumstances in which a solution will be much less easy to find.

I should, perhaps, add, for your confidential information, that the French Government approached us officially on the 7th instant about the proposed Council of Europe,³ and the Minister told Count Ostrorog yesterday that the Irish Government were prepared, in principle, to take part in this new organisation and to be represented at the Conference to be held shortly to determine its constitution. As you know, of course, the Council of Europe will have nothing to do with national defence or military matters.