HAVING spent the past 18 months treating the economic crisis as a moral defect, eurozone leader Germany has made some remarkable strides in the last few weeks.

WHILE the whole world focuses on the horrific outbreak of a particularly virulent strain of E coli in Germany that has so far claimed 22 victims, there has been very little talk about Ireland’s scandalous history of this bacteria.

EUROPE has a problem with migrants — but not the problem that is highlighted regularly by politicians with their sights firmly set on elections.

IRELAND was one of a minority of EU countries that did not have a freephone hotline for missing children in place by yesterday’s deadline.

GERMANY, backed by France, is bringing about a fundamental change in the European Union.

IRELAND is in danger of losing the propaganda war when it comes to the bailout loan and the conditions surrounding it. Just ask the taxi drivers in Berlin.

There is one thing that Ireland and the EU have in common — a lack of innovative thinking.

IRELAND is considering taking a handful of Libyan political refugees following a request from Malta for help with looking after about 2,000 who landed on the island following the uprising against the country’s leader Muammar Gaddafi.

THERE was a lot of commotion on a flight from Brussels to Budapest on Thursday when a 26-year-old Afghan refugee was being taken by Belgian police to Hungary.