Memorandum from Seán Murphy to John A. Costello (Dublin)
with note by Murphy

I saw Sir Alec Clutterbuck yesterday at 5.15 p.m.

I began by saying that I could assure him that the Government very much regretted the incidents in the Six Counties on Sunday last.¹ They felt, however, that the protection of border posts within the Six Counties were entirely the responsibility of that Government. While we could not exclude the possibility that persons from the Twenty-Six Counties took part in these raids, equally it could not be excluded that the raids were from within the Six Counties. The raiders were apparently aware that the Customs posts were unprotected which seems to suggest that they had a fairly intimate knowledge of the practices in these areas.

I then went on to mention the various items on the attached list. Sir Alec took careful notes of all I said and seemed to be very impressed, particularly by the fact that a party from the Six Counties had been disarmed by our police force on Sunday the 4th November. He expressed himself as very grateful for our co-operation and said of course the information I had given him would be kept confidential. He did not ask for any suggestions for a reply to the Question but said that he felt sure it would be brushed off.

At the end of the interview I took the opportunity of saying that the British Government could be quite satisfied that the Government here were earnestly concerned about the maintenance of peace in Ireland and preserving good relations between this country and Great Britain and that from what I had told him he could see that they were maintaining the utmost vigilance on the border and that it was fairly clear that these efforts were successful.

Attachment

For British Ambassador

1. Refer to Aide-Mémoire of 6/2/56, which still represents the policy and attitude of the Irish Government.²
2. Contradict Topping’s statement that there is open drilling in the Twenty-six Counties.
3. The drilling camp incident at Ballintra, Co. Donegal, was grossly exaggerated. A small party of very young men, all of whose arms were subsequently seized by the Irish police and four of whom are in custody.
4. Refer generally to special vigilance which is being maintained along the Border and which has been effective in preventing activities (drilling etc.) by men from Six Counties.
5. Refer to disarming of a party, which had crossed the Border from the Six Counties, on Sunday, 4/11/56.