Saving the euro - Rescue deal may cost us all dearly

YESTERDAY’S Brussels meeting of the 27 European Union leaders focussed on saving the euro but underlined the difficulty in getting 27 governments to act as one, especially at such a critical moment.

No matter what arrangements are agreed in advance of Wednesday’s climactic meeting, they will have an impact on our ability to rejuvenate our economy and tackle the jobs crisis choking the country. This situation is not made any more palatable by the realisation that Ireland’s influence may not match even our ambitions around changing the terms of our November bailout deal.

Last March, at his first EU summit, Taoiseach Enda Kenny was given a bloody nose by French President Nicholas Sarkozy when he had the temerity to suggest we needed to renegotiate the crippling terms of the rescue package his Government inherited.