Confidential report from Tim O'Driscoll to Seán Murphy (Dublin)
'Admission to the United Nations'
(26/7) (Copy)

When I called on Mr. Luns,¹ Minister without Portfolio (the second Minister for Foreign Affairs), he had just returned from the United Nations meetings in San Francisco. This provided the opening topic for our conversation and he said very forcefully that the United Nations was not a place for Ireland. Dutch experience of the Organisation had been uniformly bad. His opinion was that the Dutch would be still in Indonesia if they had not been members of the United Nations. Portugal he felt would be out of Goa by now if they had been members of the United Nations. With their long established respect for international law the Dutch were perhaps more sensitive than others to the pressure of the various resolutions (about Indonesia) passed by the United Nations. It had caused them particular disappointment that the United States took up ‘a rather ambiguous position’. (Mr. Luns before he became Minister (representing the Catholic Party) was Chancellor in the Dutch delegation to the United Nations). In his experience there were always a number of ‘Latinos and Asiatics’ very ready to pour oil on any fire.

As a member of the UN Ireland would have to take a position on many controversial subjects from which she was now able to hold aloof. The Netherlands would of course welcome Ireland’s entry particularly as Europe was under-represented compared with the situation in the League of Nations.

I commented that Ireland’s position in the UN might well have some different features from that of the Netherlands. In the case of our overriding political problem – the partition of our country – ventilation of the issue should it ever be raised at the United Nations might possibly direct the pressure of international opinion towards a solution.

Mr. Luns readily recognised the difference in our case but warned that ‘should your Government ever raise the issue they would have to be very careful that it did not get out of control’.

I mentioned to Mr. Luns a number of the points which would seem to make it attractive to England to help to bring about a solution of Partition. He said that he had very much admired ‘your Government’s policy of restraint’.

The Minister had made such a point of our position vis á vis the United Nations that I referred to the United Nations’ membership question when I was talking later in the day with the Secretary-General of the Foreign Ministry. It emerged that a proposal had recently been canvassed that a selection might be made from the ‘package’ of nations with membership applications filed, and that three from the East and three from the West should be admitted at the 1955 General Assembly. The western countries proposed were: Finland, Austria and Italy; the eastern were: Bulgaria, Romania and one other. (I note that the three westerns mentioned are among the seven countries which already have permanent observers at the United Nations).

The proposal had not gone so far as requiring the Dutch to take a position in the matter. The Secretary-General also told me that Portugal did not want to be admitted as a member of the United Nations at present.

During my protocol call on the Russian Ambassador (separate report to follow)² he referred to the lack of information on Ireland in the European Press. I said that we were not a member of some of the organisations which usually got space in the Press. The Ambassador said that Russia had supported Ireland’s entry to the United Nations. I told him that my recollection though it could be faulty was otherwise. His information on the topic did not appear to go back earlier than the ‘package’ proposal. He emphasised that the Russian doctrine was universal membership of the United Nations and there should not be ‘discrimination against properly established states’.

You will have noted that of the three westerns proposed, Finland and Austria have already made their peace with Russia. This indication of the origin of the proposal was confirmed in conversation with the Indian Ambassador who referred to the proposal as Russian. The Indian, like the Russian, very quickly expressed their point of view that admission to the United Nations should be universal.

The conclusion from the above seems to be that Russia made a suggestion to admit a ‘smaller package’ at the forthcoming Assembly but there was no favourable response from the Western powers, at least pending Geneva.³