Letter from Thomas Coyne to Richard Mulcahy¹ (Dublin)

Acting Minister.

Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

1. The Minister for External Affairs got Government approval on 27th instant to sign this Convention at a meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 3rd November.
2. This Department was not given an opportunity of expressing its views on the Convention before it was submitted to the Government, and as you will see from the enclosed note by Mr. Costigan,² we have fears that the Convention may restrict the powers of the Government to intern, without trial, under the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act, 1940.
3. We communicated our observations on the draft Convention to External Affairs by telephone on Saturday evening, and Mr. O'Driscoll of that Department, to whom they were communicated, undertook to convey them to the Minister. You may wish to raise the matter with Mr. MacBride to-day, however. I understand that he is leaving for Rome early to-morrow morning.