[matter omitted]

I saw Dr. Boon¹ accordingly this morning and informed him of the Irish Government’s support for the resolution of M. Schuman proposing that arrangements should be made for informal meetings of the Foreign Ministers of member states of the Council of Europe for discussion of current international affairs and joint action if thought advisable.

Dr. Boon said that the Dutch Foreign Office recognised M. Schuman’s resolution as being of Irish origin taken over by M. Schuman from Mr. MacBride and went on to say they understood very well the Irish desire for such discussions seeing that Ireland was not a member of NATO, UNO, etc. and therefore lacked opportunities for an exchange of views on current international matters at ministerial level.

Dr. Boon did not say that the Netherlands felt the need for such discussions and he gave no indication that the Dutch would support M. Schuman’s resolution.

Having taken note of what I said he changed the subject and said they had been interested to see Mr. de Valera’s close interest in foreign affairs indicated by his intervention in recent Dáil debates. The point, he said, had been noted by the Dutch Minister in Dublin² in a Report home in which he indicated the close identity of view between the Minister for External Affairs and the Taoiseach.

Dr. Boon said that they had also noted with interest that the Taoiseach’s references to the Partition problem indicated a ‘less violent’ approach to the problem than that of the previous government. He was referring of course to ‘violence’ in the propagandist sphere and not in a physical force context.

I stressed the fact that the feeling of the present Government regarding Partition was no less strong than that of the previous government – that all political parties shared a common indignation at the dismemberment of our country. I said the Taoiseach’s approach could be called ‘less violent’ in that he declared he wanted unity on the basis of establishing good relations between the people of the islands and that he thought that had the best chance of success. I said it must also be seen in the light of the fact that negotiations on certain practical matters were going on between Ministers of the Republic of Ireland and Ministers of the Six Counties Government. Both Government and People in Ireland hope for good results from increasing co-operation in practical matters between the leaders of the two Governments which would help to bring about greater knowledge and mutual trust between them and to create an atmosphere favourable to ultimate reunion. Dr. Boon was interested to hear the case of the Great Northern Railway. He asked me, by the way, ‘Have the Six Counties Railways and yours the same gauge?’ He laughed when I told him the Six Counties were rather anxious to come in on our end of the line which was the profitable end.

[matter omitted]