 Complete the following phrase:  In September 1948, Costello was on an official visit to Canada when a reporter asked him about the possibility of Ireland leaving the British Commonwealth. Costello, for the first time, declared publicly that the Irish government was indeed going to repeal the External Relations Act and declare Ireland a republic. It has been suggested that this was a reaction to offence caused by the Governor General of Canada at the time, the Earl Alexander of Tunis, who was of Northern Irish descent and who allegedly arranged to have placed symbols of Northern Irelandnotably a replica of the famous Roaring Meg cannon used in the 