De
Valera's Relationship with Irish Delegation
Curran says that the strong reaction from Griffith and
Collins to de Valera’s letter came from their belated realisation
that de Valera would not accept a Dominion settlement. This is unlikely
as external association was not a dominion settlement but, at a minimum, it
shows that Collins and Griffith did not fully comprehend external association
but then de Valera had probably not fully explained it to them.