A taste of some of the interesting, important and quirky happenings in Europe from our Europe Correspondent, Ann Cahill.

Irish politicians have played a storied role at the heart of Europe, but their influence is waning and work is needed to address an impending fall-off in top jobs, writes Mary C Murphy.

The refusal by the European Central Bank (ECB) to release a letter sent to the late Brian Lenihan in the run-up to the bailout in 2010 “wasted an opportunity for fairness and transparency”, according to the European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly.