Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, Europe: Political and Economic Developments, Volume IV, Part 1

No. 239

740A.5–MSP/1–1052

Memorandum by the Chargé in Ireland (Huston)¹

confidential

Dublin, December 31, 1951.

1. The Note which Mr. Aiken handed Ambassador Matthews on December 24² does not meet the requirements of the Mutual Security Act of 1951.

2. The completion by January 8 of an exchange of Notes between the Irish and United States Governments so phrased as to constitute an agreement between the two Governments is necessary in order to meet the new legislative requirements. If an agreement is not concluded by that time, the remainder of the aid which Ireland expected to receive under the ECA agreement cannot be delivered under the Mutual Security Act and hence will be lost.

3. The limits within which the terms of the presently proposed exchange of Notes can be phrased have been set by the specific language of the Mutual Security Act of 1951. The new agreement should be of a strictly contractual nature, nothing coming into it except the stipulations necessary to allow completion of aid under the new act.

4. The agreement represented by the exchange of Notes must be registered with the Secretariat of the United Nations in conformity with Article 102 of the United Nations Charter.

5. As regards any sales of arms or reimbursable arms assistance, the United States is prepared to give such consideration as is possible to Irish needs, consistent with priorities absorbing present capacity for United States Forces, NATO, United Nations Forces Korea, etc., but believes this question should be raised in a separate communication giving greater detail as to estimated Irish requirements.

6. The introduction of the question of Partition or other political matter into the proposed exchange of Notes represents an unacceptable and unnecessary qualification of the assurances required under the Mutual Security Act. The United States position that the United States cannot usefully or properly intervene in the problem of Partition is well known to the Irish Government.

7. The Embassy believes it would be helpful if representatives of the Ministry for External Affairs and of the Embassy could reach oral agreement on the substance of the Notes before the actual exchange.

1. This memorandum, enclosed in despatch 434 from Dublin, January 10, 1952, recorded the points made orally by Huston to Nunan in their conversation of December 31, 1951. The despatch enclosed 19 other documents on this subject written between November 22, 1951 and January 10, 1952. (740A.5–MSP/1–1052)
2. See Document 237.