Eamon de Valera to Robert Brennan (Dublin)
(Copy)

A Chara,
Following on our conversation on Thursday and your note of the 4^th you will understand that you are hereby appointed Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs.¹

Your duties will be to establish a general secretariat and to maintain a regular correspondence with our representatives and with our friends in foreign countries, and to supply them with pamphlets and statistics as a foundation for informative articles upon Ireland. These should be, as I pointed out, of a permanent rather than an ephemeral character.

You will watch the current of events in foreign States through the daily press, reviews, etc. supplemented by the information received from your correspondents and formulate such proposals as occur to you for our taking advantage of them. Pay particular attention to the subject peoples of the British Empire e.g. India, Egypt, etc. and also to the self-governing Dominions. As regards the latter, all movements towards Independence or towards a Federation in which the representatives of Great Britain would be on an equality with the other parts of the Empire should be noted.

I desire to be kept in the closest personal touch with this department, and will expect a weekly summary of correspondence etc. in the form of a report.

You can start at once; send me an outline of your proposed organisation, and call to see me on Tuesday at 6.30 p.m. (Feb. 8^th).