Recalled to Ireland from Paris in 1922 as the Treaty split the country and with only a short time as a diplomat behind him, Joseph Walshe went on to serve twenty-four years as acting secretary and then secretary of the External Affairs department. His inexperience was echoed by the inexperience of all those who ran departments in the emerging Free State. His first challenge was to establish External Affairs as a strong, independent department despite the general opinion that it was unnecessary. Despite his initial opposition to Fianna Fail and his fears that they posed a threat to the state, he subsequently worked closely with de Valera when his party came to power in 1932. During the second world war he was deeply involved in maintaining the state's policy of friendly neutrality despite pressure from British and later American diplomats and politicians.