Sir,

With reference to the Duke of Devonshire's Despatch No. 722 of the 14th December 1923,¹ regarding the issue of Passports by the Government of the Irish Free State, I have the honour to state that my Ministers have given the matter further careful consideration and in order to meet the difficulties raised by His Majesty's Government, they would be prepared to agree to describe holders of Passports, other than those described in paragraph 3 below, as 'Citizen of the Irish Free State and of the British Commonwealth of Nations'.

2. This description would, in the view of my Ministers, remove all possibility of confusion by His Majesty's Consular Officers abroad or by Foreign Governments.

3. In the case of persons who acquired Irish Citizenship on December 6th, 1922 by virtue of Article 3 of the Constitution, the words 'and of the British Commonwealth of Nations' would be omitted from the description on the Passport and the qualifying Clause set out in Paragraph 3 of my Despatch No. 339 of the 27th November, 1923,² would be inscribed in each case.