It is the kind of advertising money could not buy — the publishers of 3,000 magazines read by millions of Europeans paying homage to Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the people of this island.

Socialist Party MEP Paul Murphy, a member of the United Left Alliance, has branded a German publisher’s decision to bestow a ‘European of the Year’ award on Enda Kenny as a ‘sick joke’.

Just days after Angela Merkel declared Ireland to be a special case, it seems Germany thinks Enda Kenny is special too.

The praise for Taoiseach Enda Kenny abroad continues with the announcement that he will be