Ó Ceallaigh Enters Áras
Events abroad set the rhythm of the opening months. On 13 April, Éamon de Valera, Taoiseach and Minister for External Affairs, sent condolences to Harry S. Truman after the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His message expressed sorrow on behalf of the Government, Dáil Éireann and the Irish people, calling Roosevelt a “great man and a noble leader”. It was a conventional diplomatic act, but it demonstrated that Ireland’s neutral government remained engaged with the major powers even while carefully guarding its formal position outside the war.