ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS the Period of Study for the Ph.D Was Marred By
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The period of study for the Ph.D was marred by the untimely and tragic deaths of my M.Phil supervisor, Esmonde Robertson and Ph.D. supervisor, Dr. Roger Bullen, of the Department of International History at the London School of Economics. I am eternally grateful for their personal kindness, encouragement and selfless assistance. To the memory of both scholars I humbly dedicate the thesis. My gratitude to Jenny for her saintly patience in allowing me the indulgence to research and write the thesis, to James for his grammatical corrections, to Alex for collating the proofs and to Siobhan for allowing me the use of the word processor.. I am especially grateful to Dr. Michael Dockrill, Department of War Studies, Kings College, London, who kindly agreed to take over the supervision of the final stages of the thesis. I am grateful to S.B. Crooks, R.Krishna, R.James , R. Wall and all the staff of the External Studies division of London University for their helpful assistance over the years. My thanks to former Minister of Health in the coalition government, 1948-51, Dr. Noel Browne whose criticisms of my initial acceptance that there was a "general policy" of the Irish government to repeal the External Relations Act, prompted a more thorough investigation of the subject. For that enlightenment, kindness and hospitality ,1 thank Noel and his wife Phyllis. To the late Sean Mac Bride, for his courtesy and hospitality. His recollections proved invaluable; his charismatic personality is an indelible memory. To Professor Patrick Lynch for his courtesy and unending patience in answering questions about John Costello's trip to Canada. To Professor Ronan Fanning , Department of Modern History, U.C.D. for his generous assistance over several years. His article, 'The Response of the London and Belfast Governments to the Declaration of the Republic of Ireland,1948-49' proved a reliable guide to the maze of triangular negotiations that occurred in the period October 1948- March 1949. To former editor of the 'Sunday Independent' Hector Legge for his recollections and for lending me John Costello's memorandum recounting details of his decision to announce the government's intention to repeal the External Relations Act. To Una 0'Higgins 0' Malley for explaining how an "activist " viewed the Fine Gael decision to break the Commonwealth link. To Greagor 0' Duill Archivist at the Department of Foreign Affairs Dublin for pointing out several interesting files in the Department of External Affairs and especially for reading and correcting and commenting on the thesis. To Dacre Cole and Fred MacEvoy, Department of External Affairs, Ottawa, Historical division, for their kind hospitality and valuable help on aspects of John Costello's visit to Canada. To Bruce Arnold for giving permission to quote from his revealing interview with former Secretary of the Department for External Affairs, Frederick Boland. To Leonard and Gwendoline Bland for their unfailing hospitality on my frequent trips to London. To Lionel Stinnerman for informative discussions on comparative aspects of the Partition of Palestine and Ireland. To Dr. John 0'Brien,Modern History Department, U.C.D. for his advice and assistance . To Jack Me Quillan and his wife Angela for his recollections and hospitality. To Michael Hayes ,Dublin City Sheriff for the many informal chats which brought the subject alive. To Anthony Doran for his support and incisive comments on the Ireland Act,1949. Grateful acknowledgement to David West for reading and correcting the thesis and for his valuable criticisms, comments and suggestions. A friend indeed! My thanks to Jackie Gallagher, Editor of the Public Sector Times for his assiduousness in correcting a draft of the thesis. My thanks to Mrs Haroldine Helm, Independence, Missouri, for providing home from home accommodation. My grateful thanks for the kind assistance and advice of Dr.Breandan Mac Giolla Choille, Franciscan Library Archives, Killiney, Co. Dublin. To Phil Connolly, Gabriel Gaynor Eamon Mullally, Ann Neary,and Paddy Sarsfield in NASPO for their herculean and dedicated assistance over the years. To Jeffrey Flannery ,Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, Washington D.C. To Amy Schmidt and staff at the National Research Centre Maryland . To staff at the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, for assistance on locating the private papers of Norman Brook. To staff at National Archives Washington. To staff at the Public Record Office, Kew for their amazing efficiency. To Neil and staff at Harry Truman Library, Independence, Missouri. To Leslie and staff at Churchill Archives, Cambridge. To staff at Canadian National Library and Archives, Ottawa To Staff at the New York Central Research Library. To Staff at Roosevelt Library, Hyde park, New York State. To Staff at Department of Foreign affairs,Dublin. To Staff at the Department of External Affairs, Ottawa. Bodlein Library, Oxford. British Museum Library. British Museum Newspaper library, Colindale Kings College ,London. London School of Economics and Political Science. National Library of Ireland ,& Manuscripts Room. New York ,Public Library. University College Dublin & Archives Department. Washington Library of Congress. Schomburg Centre for Research in Black Culture.N.Y. Swords County Council Library. Trinity College. University College Dublin. University College Dublin . Department of Archives. THE FORMULATION AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND ACT,1948-49 Ph.D THESIS JAMES IAN MC CABE 1 UMI Number: U615760 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615760 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Ty\£S£-S, F 67 X cX \ \ I ^ U r THE FORMULATION AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND ACT,1948-49. JAMES IAN MC CABE ABSTRACT The thesis unravels the strands of the political and diplomatic pressures which led to Eire's departure from the British Commonwealth. As a background, the thesis reviews Anglo-Irish constitutional developments, from 1932 until 1948, with special reference to the introduction of the Executive Authority (External Relations) Act,1936. That statute sufficed as Eire's last tenuous constitutional link with the Commonwealth. The contentious issue of why the Taoiseach, John Costello made the announcement of his government's intention to repeal the External Relations Act, without a cabinet decision is examined. The answer is found by differentiating between the Statute and the prescribed permissory procedures embodied therein. Following chapters show how discussions among Commonwealth representatives, at Chequers and Paris, arrived at an agreement, whereby the Republic of Ireland, in an intermediary position between that of a foreign state and Commonwealth member, retained Most Favoured Nation Status for its trade and citizens. 2 Two following chapters on NATO and on Partition ignore the above semantic analysis of Anglo-Irish relations and deal with the practical problems. The thesis argues that the UK 'Ireland Act'/1949/ introduced ostensibly to recognise Eire's new status vis-a-vis the Commonwealth, incorporated a guarantee to the Unionists that Partition would not end without their consent (as opposed to with): That this "guarantee" was not divorced from the strategic interests of the British Chiefs of Staffs, who wanted to maintain the reliable bases in Northern Ireland. The Irish government's response to the British government's, Ireland Act, 1949 was rhetorical rather than practical. Protests turned to internecine political recriminations, and faded when it became obvious that continued criticism of Britain would encourage the unleashing of unconstitutional and uncontrollable elements . 3 CONTENTS TITLE PAGE p.l ABSTRACT p. 2 CONTENTS P . 4 CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS P. 8 PREFACE P.11 INTRODUCTION P. 14 CH: 1 POST-WAR ANGLO-IRISH RELATIONS, 1945-1947 P. 25 CH: 11 ANGLO-IRISH CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS 1932-38 P.35 CH:111 EXTERNAL RELATIONS ACT AND IRISH DOMESTIC POLITICS: (A)FINE GAEL CRITICISE THE EXTERNAL RELATIONS ACT P.56 (B)FEBRUARY 1948, GENERAL ELECTION CALLED P.63 (C)ELECTION RESULTS AND THE FORMATION OF THE COALITION P.78 (D) SURVEY OF COALITION'S PERFORMANCE P.89 (E)THE ANGLO-IRISH TRADE AGREEMENT AND THE APPOINTMENT OF THE MINISTER FROM THE ARGENTINE P. 102 4 CH:IV EXTERNAL RELATIONS ACT AND PARTITION. (A) FURTHER CRITICISMS OF THE EXTERNAL RELATIONS ACT, JULY-AUGUST 1948 P.110 (B) ’’MAYO" TALKS ON PARTITION, AUGUST, 1948 P. 119 (C) IRISH CABINET DISCUSS THE EXTERNAL RELATIONS ACT, AUGUST,1948 P.126 (D) BRITISH GOVERNMENT'S DISCUSS THE POSSIBLE REPEAL OF THE EXTERNAL RELATIONS ACT. P.131 CH: V JOHN COSTELLO AND THE ’’ANNOUNCEMENT" (A) THE TAOISEACH, JOHN COSTELLO, LEAVES 'EN ROUTE' FOR CANADA P. 135 (B) PRESS REACTION IN IRELAND TO JOHN COSTELLO'S " ANNOUNCEMENT ’’ P . 15 0 (C) THE "ANNOUNCEMENT" AND THE COMMONWEALTH PRIME MINISTERS MEETING P.154 (D)IRISH CABINET'S REACTION TO JOHN COSTELLO'S " ANNOUNCEMENT " P . 171 (E)JOHN COSTELLO RETURNS TO IRELAND P.176 CH: