I spoke to the German Minister about Francis Stuart's¹ broadcast on the 2nd December in which he referred to Hugh McAteer and two other men recently convicted by a Belfast Court.²

I told Herr Hempel that, while it was quite true to say that large sections of opinion in this country resented and protested against the imprisonment by the Six County authorities of men for activities arising out of the crime of Partition, it might be regarded, even by the same sections of opinion, as quite a different thing for Germany to champion the cases of such men. Hugh McAteer was said to be a member of the I.R.A. In a recent I.R.A. leaflet he was described as Chief of Staff of that organisation and his name was on the list of men wanted by the police here in connection with the murder of Detective Sergeant O'Brien.³ That being so, the holding up of McAteer on the German radio as a hero was likely to be resented by many people here and to furnish a concrete example for use by those who charged Germany with aiding and abetting the I.R.A. against the Government.

Herr Hempel said he quite saw the point and agreed with what I said. He thought it very probable that neither Francis Stuart nor anybody else in Germany knew who Hugh McAteer was. I gathered he would draw Berlin's attention to the point.