811.34541D/11b
The Secretary of State to President Roosevelt
My Dear Mr. President: I have given careful consideration to your memorandum of June 15, 194311 commenting on and requesting my views on Mr. David Gray’s memorandum on Ireland.
It appears to me that without question air and naval facilities in Ireland would be of considerable usefulness to the United Nations war effort. The Department has been informally advised by a high officer of the War Department that these facilities would be enormously useful from a military standpoint. As you know, however, Prime Minister de Valera has repeatedly declared the determination of the Irish Government to remain neutral and has stated that “there can be no question of leasing these ports” or “of handing them over on any condition whatsoever.” He has also stated that any attempt by any of the belligerents to bring pressure to bear on the Irish Government to turn over these ports “could only lead to bloodshed.” In making these statements, Mr. de Valera has no doubt had principally in mind possible approaches from the British Government. Since our entry into the war, however, suggestions have been made that Ireland might be disposed to lease naval and air facilities to the United States.
There is much merit in the following statement in Mr. Gray’s memorandum; indeed this statement is almost unanswerable: [Page 143]
“If the request were acceded to we should have the much needed facilities. If not, Eire would be definitely on record as having refused a specific request made now for the first time. Otherwise, she might say with truth, ‘you never asked us for the ports’ ”.
The Irish and the British have fought one another for seven hundred years. They suspect and distrust one another. Each tries on suitable occasions to obtain the support of the American people and Government against the other. We must be careful, therefore, to be sure that any action which we take in this regard has a sound military basis in the opinion of our own Chiefs of Staff. It seems to me that this is of fundamental importance to make it impossible for anyone to maintain that we took sides with the British against the Irish and “pulled British chestnuts out of the fire.”
Ireland is at the back door of the United Kingdom. Happenings inside Ireland are therefore of more immediate and more direct interest to the United Kingdom than to the United States. Therefore, if it should be decided that the American Government undertake a direct approach to the Irish Government concerning the ports, the matter should be discussed with the British Government in advance and the approval of the British Government should be obtained before any action is taken vis-à-vis the Irish.
I enclose a draft letter for your signature to Admiral Leahy12 requesting the views of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff on the military aspects of this question. It seems preferable that I defer further recommendations in regard to this matter until we have Admiral Leahy’s reply.
Faithfully yours,