Letter from Frederick H. Boland to Seán Murphy (Dublin)
(Confidential) (Copy)

With reference to our T.P. 4308¹ of today and previous correspondence (your 417/122)² regarding Ireland’s application for admission to the United Nations, you will no doubt have seen the dispatch from their correspondent in New York which was carried by yesterday’s Observer saying that the Canadian delegate would, within the next few days, introduce a Motion before the ad hoc political committee of the United Nations in favour of admitting eighteen new nations including Ireland. The dispatch went on to say that the Motion had already been circulated and that the belief was widespread in the United Nations that it would be accepted.

We thought it well to endeavour to ascertain the British Government’s views on this report and Mr. Biggar accordingly spoke this morning to Mr. Clark,³ Under-Secretary in Charge of Foreign Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Relations Office. Mr. Clark stated that the report could be regarded as substantially accurate but he emphasised that its tone was rather over optimistic. The Canadian Government were undoubtedly thinking along the lines suggested and the British Government would be disposed to support them if they decided to go ahead. The United States Government were believed to be not unfavourably disposed and there was also reason to think that the Soviet Government will also be agreeable to action of the nature contemplated by the Canadians (although this information did not come directly from Russian sources).

The Canadian Government would not, however, take the initiative until they had received concrete assurances of support from all the principal powers involved. This had not yet, we gathered, been forthcoming and it was therefore improbable that the Canadians would act as speedily as suggested in the Observer dispatch.

Mr. Clark pointed out that the Canadian proposal had the merit of getting away from the earlier ‘package deal’ proposals, the principle of which had always been unacceptable to the Americans. The list envisaged in the contemplated Canadian Motion covered all the countries whose applications for admission to the United Nations were now blocked and this would, of course, be the main strength of the proposal. On the other hand it would mean the acceptance by the Western Powers of such countries as Outer Mongolia to whose admission they had been consistently opposed and by Soviet Russia of other countries, principally Japan, with which she was not in diplomatic relations. There were, therefore, still obstacles to be overcome before the proposal could be accepted but we gathered that in the British Government’s view the Canadian initiative stood a good chance of success.