THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S government
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Printed for the Cabinet. May 1949
SECRET
C.P. (49) 111
18th May, 1949
CABINET
Copy No. 31
THE IRISH REPUBLIC
MEMORANDUM BY THE PRIME MINISTER
Now that the Ireland Bill has passed the House of Commons, I should be glad if Ministers would take steps to ensure that their Departments clearly understand the basis of Government policy in respect of the new Irish Republic and keep its implications in mind in the course of their day-to-day administration.
2. From 18th April, 1949, the Irish Republic ceased to be a member of the Commonwealth. She will therefore be excluded from the established system of Commonwealth consultation, and will no longer be entitled to receive information or assistance which is given as a matter of course to Commonwealth countries. It follows that she cannot be a member of any Commonwealth Committee, and she has already withdrawn from the two such Committees on which she was represented (the Commonwealth Liaison Committee for the European Recovery Programme and the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux): Departments cor- trolling the business of any other bodies of this kind should consult the Common- wealth Relations Office if at any time the Government of the Irish Republic should seek to send representatives to their meetings or to obtain any special facilities or information from them. From the point of view of preserving the special privileges of other Commonwealth countries, it is important that the Irish Republic should not appear to be retaining any of these benefits of Common- wealth membership.
Departments need not withhold from the Irish Republic scientific informa- tion which would normally be made available to a friendly foreign country. The advice of the Ministry of Defence should, however, be obtained before communi- cating to the Irish Republic information about defence research.
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3. Although the Irish Republic has left the Commonwealth and renounced allegiance to the Crown, the Governments of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth ones have recognised that, in viewofethe bond of history and blood between those countries and the people of Southern Ireland, it would be inap- propriate that they should treat the Irish Republic as a foreign State or its citizens as foreigners. The Ireland Bill accordingly provides that references in earlier statutes to His Majesty's dominions shall, if they hitherto extended to Eire, be interpreted in future as though they included the Irish Republic. And the Bill also reaffirms section 3 (2) of the British Nationality Act, 1948, which has the effect that Eire citizens who are not also British subjects are treated in this country as though they were British subjects.
The Bill has the effect that, in all Acts of Parliament and subordinate legis- lation enacted up to 31st December, 1949, references to His Majesty's dominions, to British ships or aircraft, or to British subjects will automatically include references to the Irish Republic and to its ships, aircraft or citizens. There- after, in all new legislation and subordinate legislation it will have to be made explicitly clear whether or not the legislation includes references to the Irish Republic or to its citizens. Separate instructions will in due course be issued to the legal branches of all Departments regarding the terminology to be used for this purpose in subordinate legislation.
4. As part of this policy by which the United Kingdom and the Irish Republic do not regard one another as foreign countries, the existing trade preferences between the United Kingdom and the Irish Republic will be continued on a reciprocal basis.
Supply Departments which charge higher rates for supplies and services rendered to foreign Governments than are charged to Commonwealth Govern- ments should accord to the Irish Republic any preferential rates which they accord to Commonwealth countries.
5. The Ireland Bill formally recognises the title "Republic of Ireland as the name attributed to Southern Ireland by the law there in force. There will be occasions on which Departments will find it impossible to avoid using the term Republic of Ireland "-for example in joint declarations made on behalf of the two Governments, in which the Dublin authorities will insist on the use of that term. On such occasions as these, where it would be embarrassing to take any other course, the formal description may be used. It is, however, open to criticism as a description of a part of Ireland; and its frequent use by Whitehall Departments would give offence in Northern Ireland. It is therefore important that Departments should use, wherever possible, the alternative description
Irish Republic.
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The term "Ireland" should never be used in official documents or corre- spondence in relation to the South: it should be reserved for use where a reference to the island as a whole is intended. Similarly, the adjective Irish should not normally be used except in relation to the island as a whole; Irish Republican or of the Irish Republic "should be used (e.g. Irish Republican ships, Alrageof thefish Republic, people of the IrishaRepublic.36But, since this
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phraseology (Patacular yfirften repeated) may be clumsy at
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Pages! 4tofafbe permissible on occasion to use the term Irish," if the context makes it clear that the reference is exclusively to the Irish Republic. In draft agreements, for example, it should be possible to include an interpretation clause early in the Agreement defining "Irish " as meaning "of the Irish Republic.'
United Kingdom delegates at International Conferences should be instructed specially to avoid referring to "Ireland" when references to the Irish Republic are intended, to make it clear that they represent His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and to use the full title of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in any formal document.
CC
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The use of the term Eire should be discontinued. As a geographical description of the South, "Southern Ireland " may be used as an alternative to
the Irish Republic."
6. The Commonwealth Relations Office will continue to be responsible for handling the relations between the United Kingdom Government and the Government of the Irish Republic.
10 Downing Street, S.W. 1,
18th May, 1949.
C. R. A.