Extract from a Memorandum for Government
by the Department of the Taoiseach
'Appendix J: Note on the present position regarding the proposed War Book'

On the 8th May, 1953,¹ the Government, having considered a memorandum circulated at the instance of the Taoiseach, regarding the preparation of a War Book, approved the proposal that each Department and important branch of administration should prepare precise and detailed statements of the various steps that should be taken by it at each of the following five stages:-

1. the preliminary, or first, stage – i.e., the present period;
2. the preparatory stage – which would commence if at any time the Government should apprehend that, owing to the state of international relations, a ‘time of war’ within the meaning of Article 28.3.3o of the Constitution would commence within a period of, say, one year;
3. the danger stage – which would commence when the Government decided that preparations should proceed on the assumption that a ‘time of war’ was imminent;
4. the emergency stage – which would commence immediately on the passing of resolutions by both Houses of the Oireachtas declaring the existence of a national emergency, pursuant to Article 28.3.3o of the Constitution; and
5. the war stage – which would be reached if the State became a participant in a war.

With two exceptions, all Departments and Offices have prepared and forwarded their War Book material to the Department of the Taoiseach. This material has been circulated to the members of the Inter-Departmental Emergency Preparation Committee, as also have been the observations thereon submitted by some Departments. It is intended that, when all the material has been received, a meeting of the Committee will, if necessary, be held to discuss the procedure and problems involved in the compilation of the War Book.