Further to my Secret minute No. 9 of 3rd February¹ enclosing a memorandum on the subject of the possibility of War refugees from Holland and Belgium, on several occasions the Duke of Devonshire and Mr. Stephenson have asked if we could give our views on the last two paragraphs of that memorandum.

I told them that this even tentative inquiry presented difficulties for the Irish Government and asked whether the British Government did not now regard the contingency in question as of decreasing probability. They said it was impossible for anyone to give an opinion on the degree of probability but they felt it was of sufficient likelihood to make it incumbent on them to have some plan prepared. I next asked if they could let us have some indication of the type of preparations they were themselves making. In response they send the enclosed note² giving a general outline of their scheme and again say they would be grateful for an early expression of our Government's views as to whether they would be willing to assist on this problem should the necessity arise.³