De Valera was very anxious that he and indeed Ireland would play a very important part in European and international politics. Perhaps one of the reasons why de Valera wanted to play an active part in global politics was to show and point out to everyone that Ireland could stand alone and look after her own interests, while also contributing positively to the political climate at the time. De Valera saw an opportunity in this with the ending of World War 1 and with the resulting Paris Peace Conference about to take place. He felt it was necessary for Ireland as one of the small nations to play an active role in this conference. I believe that one of the main reasons why de Valera was interested in this Peace Conference was due to many of the terms in the American Presidents 14 Points where he suggested the establishment of a League of Nations. In the same speech he made in the Dail on 10 April 1919, he stated that "in order to secure for our own de jure government and for the Irish Republic which the Irish people have willed to set up the necessary international recognition, we shall send at once our accredited representative to Paris to the peace conference and to the League of Nations." .
De Valera was very anxious to make Ireland internationally recognised. He wanted to use the peace conference as a world stage to show how capable Ireland could manage her own affairs and that she was well competent of representing itself in all sections of worldwide and international activities. He probably wanted to show to the world as well, that British rule in Ireland was un-just as the Irish people had voted to choose his party and his leadership, and that this conference was about the self determination of the small nations, as Woodrow Wilson, the American President had pointed out. Another reason for his desire for Ireland to participate in the peace conference and to openly support the setting up of a League of Nations was to exert some pressure on the British to give some form of independence, after all Wilson did include in his 14 points " the right of every nation to self determination.