611.41D31/18
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State (Sayre)
Mr. Doyle, of 1500 Girard Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a member of the American Committee in Geneva, came to see me with [Page 997] respect to a conversation which he had recently had with Mr. de Valera of Ireland. Mr. Doyle said that he is a very close intimate friend of Mr. de Valera and that when Mr. de Valera was in Geneva he and Mr. Doyle talked together about the negotiation of a trade agreement between the two countries. Mr. de Valera said that he was so anxious to secure a trade agreement that he would be willing to come to the United States himself, if it were necessary, to secure the agreement. I explained to Mr. Doyle that our hands were already so filled with other trade agreements which we have undertaken and are now in the process of negotiating, or just about to negotiate, that it would be humanly impossible to enter into additional negotiations. I said to Mr. Doyle, however, that we would give most sympathetic consideration to the matter of a possible Irish trade agreement later on. I asked Mr. Doyle whether he had questioned Mr. de Valera as to what commodities he was desirous of covering in the trade agreement. Mr. Doyle replied that Mr. de Valera had mentioned the four following export commodities: (1) agricultural products; (2) bacon; (3) liquors, wine and beer; (4) linens and flax products.