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Analysis: Although determined to remain neutral, Ireland could not stay out of the potentially devastating implications of the Cold War
By Eoin Kinsella, Royal Irish Academy
When a new world order emerged from the ashes of World War II, Ireland’s diplomatic service quickly adapted to the reality of a global arena dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union. They were two superpowers with strongly opposing ideologies and growing nuclear arsenals. In recognition of the need to repair relations that had been damaged by its neutrality during the war, Irish foreign policy leaned toward multilateralism and compromise, personified by an application to join the United Nations in 1946. However, the Cold War political realities weighed in: with Irish UN membership blocked by USSR until 1955.
The impact of the Cold War subtly cuts through Volume XII of Irish Foreign Policy Papers, which covers the useful life of the 17th Dáil (October 1961 to April 1965). Although she was determined to maintain her neutrality (an attitude that caused difficulties in her first application to join the EEC), Ireland could not remain aloof from the potentially devastating implications of the Cold War.
The realities of Cold War politics intervened, with the Irish UN membership blocked by the USSR until 1955.
Conscious of the need for good relations with Western powers, but determined to forge an independent path, Irish policy at the UN in the late 1950s and early 1960s was based on a concerted push for non-proliferation. and nuclear disarmament. That policy bore fruit on December 4, 1961 when the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 1665 (XVI), commonly known as the “Irish resolution”, which called on all member states to agree to prevent the expansion of nuclear capacity to states that do not yet possess a nuclear arsenal. Two years later, Ireland was a strong supporter and signatory to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited the detonation of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere or underwater.
In January 1962, Ireland became a yearlong temporary member of the UN’s highest body, the Security Council. The defining event of his term, and one of the most important of the Cold War, came in October 1962 when the Kennedy administration he dramatically confronted the government of Nikita Khrushchev over the increase in Soviet military force in Cuba. By issuing an ultimatum for their withdrawal, US forces initiated a blockade of the island and sought international approval.
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From BBC Learning Zone, the story of the Cuban missile crisis
Taoiseach Seán Lemass was quick to assure the US administration of Ireland’s support, a guarantee that was immediately exploited. Both Lemass and Frank Aiken (Foreign Minister) were absent from Dublin at the end of October, leaving Sheila Murphy, Under Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, in charge of Ireland’s initial response.
Murphy responded to requests from the United States, Great Britain and Canada for copies of all the manifest data and for searches of all Cuban and Eastern Bloc flights that landed at Shannon airport en route to Cuba. The latest request raised some sensitive legal issues regarding the Irish government’s authority under international treaties to conduct searches, and the resolution of the crisis in early November made the point moot.
A few months later, in February 1963, the Soviet trawler Paltus was arrested in the port of Waterford and its crew arrested for illegally fishing in Irish territorial waters. The consequences required careful diplomatic maneuvering. After receiving a note about the incident from the Soviet embassy in London, the Department of Foreign Affairs’ response had to be carefully drafted to avoid any “implicit recognition” of the Soviet annexation of Latvia. Ireland had tacitly recognized the Soviet Union when it supported its admission to the League of Nations in 1935, but it did not maintain any diplomatic presence in Moscow or, indeed, in any country east of the Iron Curtain during the 1960s.
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From British Pathé, “Red Trawler Arrested” report on Russian trawler Paltus arrested in 1963 for illegally fishing in Irish territorial waters
Although Dublin may not have been an espionage hot spot during the 1960s, and Ireland hardly a high-priority target for covert operations by either side during the Cold War, Ireland’s diplomatic corps had to act carefully in his dealings with Russian diplomats.
In the last days of December 1963, Boris Zhiltsov, third secretary of the Russian embassy in London, spent some time in Dublin. Shortly after his departure, the Department of Justice wrote to Hugh McCann, Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, to say that Zhiltsov had been observed acting suspiciously. In addition, the Justice had recently learned that Zhiltsov (also known as Boris Skoridov) held the rank of Major in the Russian intelligence service. It was recommended that the Irish ambassador in London, Con Cremin, be informed “so that Zhiltsov may be treated with circumspection in any dealings with him.”
The Irish diplomatic corps was asked to exercise caution in its dealings with Russian diplomats.
In early 1965, the first secretary of the Irish embassy in London, Andrew O’Rourke, was invited to lunch by Vyacheslav Dolgov, an attache in the political section of the Soviet embassy. While much of their conversation was relatively mundane, O’Rourke reported that Dolgov repeatedly emphasized Moscow’s interest in developing deeper relations with the Irish government and hinted at his willingness to see a diplomatic mission established in Moscow.
O’Rourke’s response – that as a small nation Ireland could not maintain a diplomatic presence in all countries – was the standard response offered to countries with which the Irish government did not wish to establish formal relations. It was not until 1974 that an Irish embassy was established in Moscow.
Irish Foreign Policy Papers Vol XII, 1961–1965, will be published by the Royal Irish Academy in November.
Dr. Eoin Kinsella is an author and historical consultant, and was an assistant editor of Volume XII of the Irish Foreign Policy Papers series for the Royal Irish Academy. He is a former awardee of the Irish Research Council
The opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the opinions of RTÉ
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