Irish interests are being overlooked as Taoiseach Bertie Ahern presses other member states to endorse his flawed plan for a European Union Constitution, it was claimed today.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern firmly ruled himself out of the running for the job as President of the European Commission and also implicitly accepted that Pat Cox was not among the front runners.

PAT COX'S chances of becoming the next president of the European Commission are fading as EU chiefs indicate they would prefer a former prime minister in the job.

All EU countries will apply the same rules to people seeking asylum following a deal agreed by justice ministers meeting in Luxembourg last night.

In a meeting chaired by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, EU nations agreed today on joint rules for dealing with asylum seekers to keep illegal immigrants out while guaranteeing essential rights for genuine refugees.

European Union nations weigh new measures to fight terrorism today at emergency talks called after the terror attacks in Madrid that killed more than 200 people.

Tony Blair was today struggling to hold together the coalition which took military action in Iraq, after the Spanish Prime Minister-elect accused him and US President George W Bush of going to war on the basis of lies.

The EU was under pressure today to convene high-level security talks in the wake of the Spanish bombings to assess what additional anti-terrorism measures to take.

GARDAÍ will be able to get evidence including bank records and DNA from police in any EU country under a proposed European Evidence Warrant.

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell deeply criticised his EU counterparts yesterday for proposing criminal laws that were based purely on theories rather than reality.

The EU is introducing a new centralised fingerprinting database for all asylum seekers to enable closer monitoring of refugee applications and prevent abuses of the system.