Free State to act to secure place in League of Nations

Dublin, 14 December 1922: The Free State government will act to ensure that Ireland will take its place in the League of Nations, Desmond Fitzgerald, Minister for External Affairs, has told the Dáil.

Mr Fitzgerald also outlined the Free State’s diplomatic missions overseas, which includes diplomatic and trade representatives in Paris, Italy and the United States, as well as trade representatives in Holland, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Switzerland.

He explained that his department was in the process of being reorganised. ' The functions of the Foreign Affairs Department of the past Dáil were slightly different from ours under the new Dáil. At that time the Foreign Office attempted to attain what we have now, and now we wish to use what we have attained.’

Fitzgerald was speaking during a debate on a Dáil vote to extend £25,000 of exchequer funding to his department – £10,000 of which will be allocated to salaries, wages and allowances; and £15,000 for incidental expenses and travel.

The leader of the Labour Party, Thomas Johnson, said that he considered this level of spending to be exorbitant. His main contribution to the discussion was to question the decision to invite Governor-General Tim Healy into the Dáil the previous day. Labour members had not attended that session, not as a means of disrespecting the governor-general, but in the belief that it was not right to bring someone from outside into the assembly without the formal consent of the assembly.

Johnson stated:

‘We read in the morning papers, and in this document that has been circulated, that the following message was conveyed to the governor-general from the king. It begins: ‘With the final enactment of the constitution the self-governing dominion of the Irish Free State comes into being.’ And we have the record of the governor-general's reply, ‘acknowledging the gracious message by which your majesty has inaugurated the self-governing dominion of the Irish Free State.’ That is a denial of the claim that has been made since the 6th December last that the treaty placed Ireland in a position of equality with England.’

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]