Volume 10 1951~1957


Doc No.
Date
Subject

No. 485 NAI DFA/5/305/173/1/Pt 1

Letter from Seán Murphy to Philip P. O'Donoghue (Dublin)
enclosing a memorandum for the Attorney General
concerning the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF)
(Copy)
[Enclosure]

Dublin, 16 November 1956

At the request of Maurice Moynihan I enclose two questions on the position arising out of the presence in Egypt of the United Nations Police Force on which the opinion of the Attorney-General is sought.

The opinion of the Attorney General is sought on the following questions:

  1. Do the presence and proposed activities in Egypt with the consent of the Egyptian, Israeli, French and British Governments of the United Nations Police Force constitute actually or potentially a state of war or armed conflict within the meaning of Article 28.3o of the Constitution.
  2. Could the consequences of a material reduction in the oil supplies to this country arising out of the present blockage of the Suez Canal be deemed to create a state of national emergency within the meaning of Article 28.3o of the Constitution.