When the Emmet's rising failed, and after the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 defeated any prospect of a French invasion, McCabe made contact with the British government. According to the home office papers of Sir Charles Flint, head of the aliens office in London, McCabe expressed his disillusionment with the French government (Napoleon remained fixed, not on Ireland, but on the re-enslavement of Haiti) in overtures to Ulster-born Lord Castlereagh and to Castlereagh's successor as Chief Secretary for Ireland, Arthur Wellesley. Through the prime minister's private secretary, William Dacre Adams, he also made an approach to William Pitt. Negotiations led to some relaxation of his banishment so far as England and Scotland were concerned, but Ireland remained prohibited.