Confidential report from John J. Hearne to Seán Murphy (Dublin)
'Ireland's Admission to the United Nations'
(Personal and Confidential)

I beg to refer to the speech of the Secretary of State in the United Nations Assembly on the 22nd September and to Mr. Molotov’s speech of the 23rd September where they referred to the admission of new members into the United Nations. As you are aware the Secretary of State referred to the election of ‘about a score’ of new members, and Molotov proposed the admission of sixteen new members. Molotov apparently would exclude the two Koreas, the two Viet-Nams and Japan.

In my secret report of the 26th July² to you I spoke of the ‘package’ deals. I gave the three grounds on which the State Department opposed the ‘package’ deals. The third ground, you will recall, is that, in the view of the State Department, the ‘packages’ proposed are wrong so far as the United States is concerned because of the problems raised for the United States with the countries left out, for example Japan.

As Molotov would apparently still exclude Japan, I thought it right to seek for your information an appraisal from the State Department of the status of the question of the election of new members to UNO so far as they are concerned. The Secretary of State is away and will be back in Washington in a day or two. Outerbridge Horsey³ is in London. So I asked Christensen⁴ to get for me from the United Nations people in the State Department anything he could on the matter. I did that yesterday. Christensen informs me today that after inquiry all he is authorised to tell me is that there is nothing to add at the moment to Mr. Dulles’ speech of the 22nd September and that the policy of the United States in the matter of the election of new members to UNO is ‘under consideration’.

He added that on the return of the Secretary of State in a day or two he probably would have something more to add. I think that the inconclusiveness of the expression ‘under consideration’ is owing to the absence from the State Department for the moment of anyone who could be more specific on the point. If Molotov insists on the exclusion of Japan and the Secretary of State still insists on her inclusion the decision of policy on the question of the admission of new members as a whole would in those circumstances have to be made at the top.

I shall keep you as closely advised as I can on this important matter.