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Volume 9 1948~1951

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Date
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No. 482 NAI DFA/6/417/33 part 3

Letter from John J. Hearne to Frederick H. Boland (Dublin)
'Ireland's Candidature for Membership of UNO'

Dublin, 14 July 1950

I have the honour to report that Dr. Castro, Ambassador of El Salvador,1 has informed me that, should the Russian representatives continue to remain absent from the Security Council, there is a good chance of Ireland being elected to UNO at the next Assembly.2 Yugoslavia would probably abstain from voting on the issue in the Council. This conversation arose out of a remark I made to the effect that Ireland, to some extent, owed her membership ofthe Council of the League of Nations (1930-1933) to Dr. Guerrero,3 then Ambassador of El Salvador in Paris and acknowledged leader of Latin America. Dr. Guerrero is now a member of the International Court of Justice. It will be recalled that Ireland supported his candidature for membership of the Permanent Court of International Justice. (I cannot recall the year but it was after Ireland's election to the Council of the League).

Dr. Castro said that he had recently raised in the Department of State here the question of clearing up some matters at Lake Success which could not be dealt with so long as the Russian representatives attended Council meetings (because of the Russian veto). Ireland's membership of UNO was, he said, one of the matters he had in mind. He had mentioned the subject to some of his colleagues in the corps here who regularly attend Lake Success and they were agreed that Ireland's candidature should be taken up again in September. He would talk to others about it.

I told Dr. Castro that I would inform you of his suggestion in which I said I know you would take the liveliest interest.

He said that he would be writing to Dr. Guerrero and would let him know of our conversation on the friendship and co-operation of the Irish and El Salvador representatives at Geneva twenty years ago.

I mentioned the matter of our membership of UNO to Mrs. Pandit yesterday.4 She said that it had already occurred to her in the context of the absence of Russia from the Council and that she would pass the idea on to others.

I did not draw Mrs. Pandit's attention to the complication for Ireland's candidature if Communist China became a member of the Security Council.

John J. Hearne

1 Dr. Hector David Castro, Ambassador of El Salvador to the United States (1943-61).

2 Marginal notes by Boland: 'Minister, This is most alarming. It raises the question whether we shouldn't withdraw our candidature!! F.B. 18/7'; 'Mr Nunan, Orig.[inal] with Min[ister]. This is dreadful news! We must consider before September what action we can take to avert what would be - at this stage - a most unwelcome and inopportune honour! FB 18/7'.

3 José Gustavo Guerrero (1876-1958), Salvadoran jurist and diplomat. President of the Assembly of the League of Nations (1929-30), President of the Permanent Court of International Justice (1937-45), President of the International Court of Justice (1946-9).

4 Vijaya Lakshmi Nehru Pandit, commonly known as Madame Pandit (1900-90), Indian diplomat, politician and sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indian Ambassador to the United States (1949-51), head of the Indian delegation to the UN (1946-68).

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