This was in effect a proposal for a joint military command of all of Ireland, which the unidentified ex-British Army lieutenant colonel said had been stimulated after discussion with "important members of the British Army in the North of Ireland." It is possible that the simultaneous discussions could have been an attempt to pressure Éamon de Valera, the Taoiseach. Unionist politician Sir Emerson Herdman also called to speak with de Valera about obtaining "unity of command" and to ask if Ireland would enter the war in return for an end to partition. Herdman appears to have been acting on behalf of Craigavon, but when de Valera rebuffed him, he was of the view that: