On the eve of my departure from the Department of External Affairs I should like to convey to you and to every member of the staff under your care my grateful appreciation of the co-operation and of the many courtesies which I have received from you and the members of the staff during my tenure of office as Minister.

Our service is a small one, but it has important national tasks to achieve. Idealism and selfless devotion to the achievement of our National objectives have to be the mainspring of not merely our work but of our lives. The consciousness of this sense of devotion to our Nation's tradition and objectives has made our work useful to Ireland. I leave with full confidence that you will forge ahead in the same spirit and give my successor the same loyalty and co-operation as you gave me.