Letter from John W. Dulanty to Frederick H. Boland (Dublin)

Dear Fred,
Would you be good enough to look at D.C. Circular No. 2/49 regarding the description of the State and the copy of the British Secret Memorandum I sent you some time ago on the subject.¹

Paragraph 2 of the Circular appears to me to give official sanction to acceptance, at some times, of the term 'Irish Republic'. Indeed, the order of the wording in the second sentence would suggest that in the scale of preference the term 'Irish Republic' should come before 'Republic of Ireland'. We have hitherto been holding out, I may say in the face of some difficulty, for the use of the terms 'Ireland' or 'Republic of Ireland' in that order. We objected to 'Irish Republic' because we felt that the British in using it wished to make it synonymous with the Twenty-six County area. This was later confirmed by the contents of the Secret Memorandum.

I feel that, so long as we have Partition, we should not countenance the use of the title 'Irish Republic' in any circumstances. The British attach importance to it for the very reason that we should oppose it. They hope to use it in the way they used the term 'Éire' which, as you know, became the name here for that part of the country known formerly as the Irish Free State. To insist on the use exclusively of the terms 'Ireland' or 'Republic of Ireland' is the only way to avoid a repetition of this practice.

In the circumstances, I think that we here should continue to disown the title 'Irish Republic', notwithstanding the terms of the D.C. Circular. I should be glad to know whether you agree with me in this connexion.