740A.5/8–3151: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Bruce) to the Secretary of State 1
1377. From MacArthur.2 Irish FonMin Aiken (who was Def Min prior to World War II) asked to see me yesterday. He said on basis previous acquaintance he wished to raise informally with me question to which he and his govt attach great importance, namely possibility of purchasing certain modern arms and mil equipment from US. He said new Irish Govt feels strongly it must build up Irish def capabilities. It wishes not only to increase size of its standing forces but also their effectiveness. Receipt of limited amounts US equipment on purchase basis wld not only increase morale of armed forces and thus help recruiting campaign but wld also stimulate public support for increased effort and sacrifices which are necessary to build greater defensive strength. He said certain elements in Ireland wld oppose an increased effort because of sacrifices required and that procurement of Amer equipment wld be very helpful in neutralizing such opposition.
I said to Aiken his request seemed to raise issues both of policy and supply. Policy issues aside, mil equipment sitn in US very tight at this time. Not only did we have to meet heavy commitments in FE but also we had time phased commitments to our NAT allies. I assumed most equipment in which he was interested was longlead items or those in short supply. I was sure he wld agree our NAT allies with whom we were joined in great collective effort for def of Western civilization must have priority. I mentioned that Ireland had chance to join NAT but had refused because of its feelings vis-à-vis UK over Northern Ireland. These differences were not my business but in my personal opinion surest way to insure that Irish requests recd sympathetic consideration wld be for Ireland to indicate its determination to contribute in some positive way to collective defense of West.
Aiken replied tradition of neutrality strongly ingrained in Ireland and in his personal opinion there was no possibility this time of its joining NAT or other collective defense arrangements. Furthermore feelings in Ireland over partition soil ran very deep and his country wld not enter into any treaty agreement with UK until satisfactory solution had been found. On other hand Ireland wld [Page 528] resist communism more strongly than most Eur countries and therefore any assistance which was given it in strengthening its defensive posture wld contribute indirectly but positively to overall defense of WE. If we cld help on equipment he believed conf mil staff talks wld be possible which wld enable NATO planners to have knowledge of Ireland’s defense plans so that there cld be proper mil coordination shld aggression against Ireland occur. He added it wld be tragic for both US and UK if for example USSR shld attack and overrun WE to have Ireland a defensive vacuum into which Sov cld move. He said he realized full well US cld not meet all demands for equipment but he felt if we wld permit Ireland to purchase very limited amounts of equipment for training purposes it wld enable them to get ahead with modernization their forces and also wld permit them to assimilate further quantities of matériel which they wld be able to purchase at some future time when Amer production program had moved into high gear. (He mentioned specifically modern aircraft and heavy infantry weapons of anti-tank nature.) Said he realized we might not be able to furnish equipment immed but hoped we wld be able to give Irish approx date for planning purposes.
I told Aiken I was familiar with informal approaches this subj which had been made to Amb Garrett about a year ago, and inquired whether Irish Govt intended take this question up with US Govt officially thru diplomatic channels. He replied in affirmative but indicated there might be some delay since govt did not wish begin its campaign for addit recruits and further mil effort until after harvest. Said he wld appreciate my conveying substance what he had told me informally to Gen Eisenhower and proper auths in Wash so they cld know lines along which new Irish Govt is thinking.
Shld add that Aiken spoke with deep feeling and apparent sincerity. [MacArthur.]