No. 554 NAI DFA/5/305/281/A
Confidential report from William P. Fay to Seán Murphy (Dublin)
'Algeria in UNO:
Irish Attitude as seen in Paris'
(111/16:86/57) (Confidential) (Copy)
Paris, 6 March 19571
- The Minister will no doubt be glad to know that the action taken by our delegation in reference to the debate on Algeria in UNO has been acknowledged with gratitude by the French Authorities. This is especially so because they recognise quite frankly that we were faced with a difficult problem. Even if, as they assumed, we desired to show friendship and comprehension for France, they quite understood that our own revolutionary past made it impossible for us to take an entirely negative attitude towards the apparent desire of the Algerians to fall in with the general Afro-Asiatic movement towards national independence.
- For this reason, the French Authorities to whom I have spoken are particularly gratified that it was possible for Ireland to vote in favour of the resolution most favourable to France, and the one which she herself was prepared to accept. This was made clear to me, amongst others, by General Ganeval,2 Chief of the Military Household of President Coty,3 whom I met recently at a dinner-party. He told me that President Coty was very glad to be in a position to receive the President of Ireland to lunch on the occasion of his short visit to Paris at the end of this week, not merely because of a traditional friendship to which President Coty attaches much importance, but also because he was very appreciative of the line we had taken in UNO. The Minister for Defence, Mr. Bourgès-Maunoury,4 when I called on him recently, also said that they were very grateful for the friendly line we had pursued. Several officials of the Quai d’Orsay have gone out of their way to say the same thing when I met them casually at official receptions.
- I think that this circumstance may form a distinctly positive factor in our future relations with France. You will see from our official minute dealing with French Press coverage of our Election campaign, that the subject has been dealt with with sympathy and with reasonable accuracy – in some cases, the reporting being done by the local correspondent in Dublin: e.g. in the case of Le Monde, by Sydney Ehler. This was only what I should have expected but the most interesting aspect of it was the fact that the Populaire, the Socialist Party organ which, consisting of a single sheet, has very little news space, should have given quite a sizeable article to our election which, though inaccurate in several respects, was friendly and respectful. As we do not normally enjoy a very good press from the Socialist newspapers of Europe, the fact that they printed this despatch at all, and gave it space, may be regarded as of some significance, Le Populaire being clearly in close touch with this Government.
Purchase Volumes Online
ebooks
The Royal Irish Academy's Documents on Irish Foreign Policy series has published an eBook of confidential correspondence on the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations.
International Counterparts
The international network of Editors of Diplomatic Documents was founded in 1988. Delegations from different parts of the world met for the first time in London in 1989.
Read more ....