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Poland backs Ireland's Ahern for EU presidency

28 February 2008, 23:38 CET

(WARSAW) - Poland would back Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern as the European Union's first-ever president, should he enter the race, the country's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Thursday.

"In Europe, there are very few politicians of such a great calibre and authority," Tusk told reporters during a visit to Warsaw by the Irish premier.

"If the prime minister of Ireland has such an intention, the approach of the Poles would be most certainly and obviously favorable," Tusk said in response to a question at a joint press conference with Ahern, who did not comment.

Ahern held the rotating presidency of the EU in 2004, but has not figured so far among the favourites for the new post, enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty last December as part of moves to streamline the 27-member bloc.

These include former British prime minister Tony Blair and current Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Poland's left-wing ex-president Aleksander Kwasniewski, a long-time political rival of the liberal Tusk, has also been tipped for the job.

The post, picked by the EU's member governments for a two-and-a-half-year term, will be up for grabs in 2009 if the member states can keep to their timetable and individually ratify the treaty over the coming year.

Polish lawmakers decided Thursday to vote on the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty at a later, as yet unspecified, session instead of seeking a public referendum on the issue.

Earlier this month France became the first EU heavyweight to approve the Lisbon Treaty by parliamentary vote, joining Hungary, Malta, Romania and Slovenia in giving their seal of approval.

Ireland, where the law requires the public be given its say, is the only EU member country to have announced plans for a referendum. Irish voters could be called to the polls in May.

Tusk pledged to "learn systematically from the Irish" on economic matters, although Ahern -- who presided over a period of rapid growth which saw Ireland's economy dubbed the Celtic Tiger -- cautioned that "these things do not happen overnight."

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the irish drain on UK's economy

Posted by Hop Scotch at 29 February 2008, 03:41 CET

UK has finally done the right thing by focusing on eliminating the unemployment benefits abuse. Kudos for them.
It has always been a major drain on the British economy.
This means the irish in UK are screwed royally.
Under the EU regulations they can't be herded and shipped back to dublin or where ever and they can't be shipped en masse to remote places like australia by the boat loads because that would be politically incorrect in this century, but they can surely be forced to get jobs and work for a living or starve and get the hell out..

Do you think that they will ever shape up?
Can a zebra change it's stripes?
Never in a million years.

amazing...

Posted by Jay Dee at 01 March 2008, 02:12 CET

@Hopscotch: Amazing comment...

Firstly, generally your entire comment is decades late when it comes to Irish workers. Nobody can deny that a lot of Irish people went to UK in mid to late 1900s for work and many of them never ended up working, which is an unfortunately fact among emigrants from any nation it would seem.

The big difference however is that the Republic of Ireland _is_ a dramatic example of how a state can change its fortunes and how a zebra can change it's stripes (see: evolution). Terribly poor only a number of decades ago, Ireland moved from net emigration to net immigration very fast and has been found several times to be among the richest nations on the planet per capita, running ahead of the UK, US, Germany, Italy France and Spain for example.

Economist magazine found that Ireland was the country in the world with the highest quality of life for its citizens and foreign workers based on health, economic growth/increasing wealth, low unemployment, traditional values, security, stability, climate, education and other factors. Going back even just 10 years, it would probably not receive the same outcome.

If you even follow what is happening in the UK you will notice that the re-examination of unemployment benefit has little or nothing to do with Irish people, but instead immigrants from Eastern Europe and other territories experiencing mass-emigration.

Since Ireland and UK have English as their primary spoken language, that is where many have come from Poland and similar countries seeking work, as they learn English in school. It is a lot easier option than going to other EU states where English is not the primary language. Ireland, which once saw mass emigration, now experiences net immigration of workers looking for a decent income or better quality of life, and they overwhelmingly get it.

As for Irish workers in the UK, many with special skills still opt to work in the UK and can do so because of the many entities within the UK recruiting in Ireland, all you need to go is try a few Google searches, but it is a choice and not a necessity anymore. Furthermore, Ireland is home nowadays to many workers from the United Kingdom who have traveled there for similar reasons.

People have a bad view of Ireland if they haven't been following progress. They attribute the violence of Northern Ireland with the Republic for example, despite the fact that its a completely different state within the United Kingdom (i.e. the reason Ireland ranks if I remember correctly, 4th, among world's most peaceful nations) and also still have a third world-like view of Ireland until they are told and shown the figures and facts and begin to think differently.

Of course, currently the Irish economy, like the UK and US is shaky due to a global economic downturn fear, but the affected industries (mainly construction, which employs many thousands of foreign workers) are expected to bounce back soon. Either way, the Irish people absolutely do not drain from the UK.

However, based on your comments about political correctness and EU regulations I'm not surprised that your overall message was completely false, and you certainly fit an elitist stereotype that is common moreso among long-time unemployed citizens of countries that see net immigration just looking for a reason for not having a job. Of course, I could be incorrect in my assumptions about you but at least I'll admit it.

So basically, will Irish ever shape up? They did, thanks much to the European Union which provided many countries with an opportunity and Ireland was one of a few who took it properly (I could name some that didn't but I'm not like that). Can a Zebra change its stripes? Perhaps not an individual Zebra, but as I joked earlier, I wonder what a Zebra looked like within the last million years as evolution is ongoing, but its a completely false witty comparison to begin with as I pointed out.

As for the main article, Bertie Ahearn is often the subject of criticism in Ireland over his personal affairs and at best is not morally-sound. However, as the article hinted, he did reside over phenomenal growth of the Irish economy, solidifying it as an example of the power offered by the European Union. EU Presidency material though? I am not sure!