No. 19 NAI DFA/10/P/12/1/A
Memorandum by Con Cremin
'Interview between Mr. Aiken and Mr. Schuman on Friday 13th July 1951'
Paris, 13 July 1951
- The Minister called to see M. Schuman,1 French Foreign Minister, this morning. After some general remarks the Minister gave M. Schuman an exposé of our position in the present crisis and of our attitude and policy in relation to Partition.
- The Minister informed M. Schuman that in the event of war our policy would be similar to that on the last occasion. He explained that as long as Partition continues national unity could not be secured for any other policy. He recalled at the same time the Taoiseach's declaration in 1935 to the effect that we would not in any circumstances permit our territory to be used as a base for attack on England, and he stated that this undertaking remains fully valid. The Government intends to strengthen our defences in order that we may be in a position to defend our territory and thus implement that undertaking.
- On the question of Partition the Minister informed M. Schuman of the offer made by the Taoiseach to facilitate the reunification of the country, viz. to allow Belfast if it so chose to continue to exercise the powers it at present has, provided the powers now in the hands of the Imperial Parliament were transferred to the All-Ireland Parliament. The Taoiseach had also, Mr. Aiken added, put it to the British that in the event of certain dissentients in the Six County area not being satisfied to come under an All-Ireland Parliament, both Governments could arrange to buy them out. He went on to say that he had the impression that London has been reluctant to do anything about ending Partition because of the influence of the opinion of military experts. It is these experts who have been responsible for the slowness of Britain in leaving Ireland in the first instance and now in abandoning the Six Counties. He explained to M. Schuman that the military value of the Six Counties has been highly exaggerated. He had put it both to members of the Conservative Party and to members of the British Government and most recently to Mr. Gordon Walker, Minister for Commonwealth Relations, during his visit to London earlier in the week,2 that Britain enjoys no advantages from the maintenance of Partition and would benefit from its being ended. Mr. Aiken had been urging the British Government to accept the proposition that the ending of Partition is a British interest and to make a declaration to that effect without thereby committing itself to take positive action. Such a declaration would, he told M. Schuman, have the most beneficial effects and would undoubtedly in time lead to reunification. Those who have been in power in Belfast without interruption for the last thirty years are of course anxious to maintain the status quo but they could not prevail in the face of a recognition by Britain of her real interests. Religious bigotry in the Six Counties has however lessened considerably in recent times as compared with the situation thirty or more years ago. One of the difficulties arising in this matter is that the Labour Government is afraid that such a declaration on its side would be used by the Tories for electoral ends and thus the Partition question is a factor in purely internal British politics. The existence of Partition in the event of another war would at the same time create a special problem. The faithful implementation in the last war of the undertaking given by the Taoiseach in 1935 had placed the Government in the position of having to intern a number of people who wanted to take action detrimental to Britain. This was a most invidious task for the Government, which of course felt sympathetic with the ultimate aims of those people who wanted to reunite the country. The Government would naturally be prepared to take similar action in a future war if the necessity arose. It might well happen, however, that in the next war those within our jurisdiction inclined to undertake disruptive activities would be allied with Communists in the North, for while we are free from Communism there are quite a number of adherents in Belfast.
- Mr. Aiken went on to say that in his talks with the British he had stressed the desirability and the value of ending Partition from the point of view of convincing the world of the sincerity of the principles which the Western community professes. This is the only territorial quarrel which persists in Western Europe and its elimination is not only essential if the principles for which the Western Powers claim to stand have any real value but would provide positive proof of the genuineness of their professions. For that reason the Irish Government hopes that the USA and other countries such as France would interest themselves positively in putting an end to Partition, and Mr. Aiken expressed the hope that the French Government would feel able to take some action in this direction although he naturally did not expect that such action would necessarily be taken publicly.
- M. Schuman listened most attentively to Mr. Aiken's exposé and made the following comments –
- The French would welcome a free and sincere arrangement which would put an end to Partition. He considers that the Partition of Ireland is a situation which cannot be justified, and the opposition to which it has given rise in Strasbourg has shown it to be an abscess in Western Europe.
- The problem is essentially a bilateral problem between Ireland and Britain but one ‘in the solution of which we have a multilateral interest'.
- The Irish Government can count on the moral support of the French Government for bringing about a solution.
- M. Schuman seemed to attach considerable importance to what Mr. Aiken had said of the Taoiseach's undertaking of 1935 in regard to our position vis-á-vis England in the event of war.
- At the conclusion of the interview M. Schuman asked the Minister to convey his warmest regards to the Taoiseach and the Minister assured him of his own and his Government's good wishes for him personally, for France, and for the French people.
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