FIANNA Fáil European election candidate Ned O’Keeffe has denied rumours that he is rowing with his running mate, sitting MEP Brian Crowley.

SOCCER legend Packie Bonner has officially joined the battle for Fianna Fáil’s European election ticket in the north-west.

THE budget is still nearly three weeks away and speculation is already mounting about the Government’s ability to get it through the Dáil. Against all expectations when this government was formed, the Greens have developed a limpet-like grip on power. Only grim death will separate them from ministerial office, it seems.

THE European Commission said it would not be imposing a ban on Irish pork as the authorities had taken all possible steps to limit the damage by withdrawing all products from the market.

IRISH fishermen met the European Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg yesterday as they warned that proposed fishing cuts would threaten many livelihoods.

FISHERMEN say a large section of the white fish industry will be wiped out if the latest proposals on conserving fish stocks go ahead.

EUROPE’S new trade commissioner to replace Peter Mandelson has been approved by the European Parliament, but she may not be farmer-friendly.

COMPLAINTS by Seán Ó Neachtain MEP (Letters, September 22) about Libertas funding of the no campaign in the Lisbon Treaty referendum leaves him open to a charge of hypocrisy.

THE Government must urgently amend the electoral laws.

LIBERTAS leader Declan Ganley was in Brussels recently addressing a group of Eurosceptic MEPs. Before the Lisbon Treaty referendum, he said the Irish people should vote against and renegotiate it.

IRISH MEPs miss one out of every five days of the European Parliament and have only attended an average of 33 days of parliamentary sessions so far this year.

VOTERS should reflect on the benefits the EU has brought to Ireland over the past 35 years.

THE fact that each EU member state has the power to veto a world trade agreement, as confirmed by Seán Ó Neachtain MEP (Letters, May 26) helps to move forward the debate on the Lisbon Treaty.

WE are warned by Seán Ó Neachtain MEP (Letters, May 26) that “the interests of Irish agriculture, rural communities and the Irish food sector in general will be very badly served indeed if there is a no vote against the Lisbon Treaty”.

AS a member of the steering committee in the European Parliament that deals with WTO issues, I can assure readers that each EU member state can exercise a veto in the case of a world trade agreement.

WE’RE told by Sean Ó Neachtain MEP (Letters, May 5) that we must look carefully at the facts of the Lisbon Treaty.

WE must all look carefully at the facts of the Lisbon Treaty.

THERE is an extraordinary level of interest in Europe in the Lisbon treaty referendum here.

THE former president of the Irish Farmers Association John Dillon walked out of a European Union sub-committee meeting in Brussels yesterday in protest at what he claimed was the sell-out of agriculture in the world trade talks.

Irish troops will not be forced to take part in any conflict if the Lisbon Treaty is passed.

THE EU has helped strongly to support the peace process in Ireland. Since 1995, it has provided €1.65 billion for economic and social projects along the border and within Northern Ireland.

THURSDAY, June 12, is the date favoured by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern for the Lisbon Treaty referendum, he indicated at the end of an EU summit in Brussels.

THE go-ahead for a 2% milk quota increase from April 1 will come at next Monday’s meeting of the EU Council of Agriculture Ministers, according to sources in IFA and Fianna Fáil.

A DECISION on a proposal to increase milk quotas in the EU by 2% from April 2 will be taken at a meeting of agricultural ministers in Brussels on St Patrick’s Day.

THE Connacht/Ulster MEP Seán Ó Neachtain (Letters, February 2) states that our neutrality will be secured by a triple-lock system, including a specific UN resolution which then must be approved by the Government and the Dáil before Irish troops can engage in peacekeeping activities abroad.

SINN Féin claims the EU Reform Treaty will lead to a greater militarisation of Europe.

GETTING Irish recognised as an official working language of the European Union was quiet a cause celebré, one that energised language activists and their supporters.

IRELAND retains most of its 2007 fish quota for next year despite the European Commission seeking a 25% reduction in a deal that has been criticised by conservation groups who say it will further deplete fish stocks.

MINISTERS have spoken in Irish 22 times at EU meetings since the language became an official one last January, while MEPs have used it about twice as often.

A NEW whitefish conservation package, to be announced within days, could lead to the voluntary decommissioning of up to 120 Irish trawlers.

FIANNA Fáil deputies, senators and MEPs from the western seaboard conceded last night that the Aer Lingus decision to pull its Shannon to Heathrow service was a done deal and that their anger over the decision will not materialise into a rebellion.

THE Government plans to decommission a third of the whitefish fleet sector in Ireland, at a cost of about €66 million, according to an application lodged with the European Commission.

A DELEGATION from Shannon meets key EU officials in Brussels today on the future of the airport.

THE EU’s decision to challenge Irish laws that restrict planning permission to locals living in the area, working in certain land-based occupations and speaking Irish has led to a clash between auctioneers and a Government MEP.

THE EU Commission is due shortly to make a judgement on the legality or otherwise of Ireland’s planning laws.

THE Irish Government hopes that the EU Commission will give it the go-ahead to begin decommissioning almost half of Ireland’s largest white-fleet trawlers as part of a €66 million scheme.

EU leaders are meeting on June 22 when the primary issue for discussion is a roadmap to extricate the EU from the constitutional difficulties it faces at present.

AN agreement that will revolutionise air traffic between Europe and America, cutting prices and increasing the number of flights, has been reached between the EU and the US.

THE State’s Irish language radio station yesterday insisted that there is no link between the axing of its second most popular programme and complaints from a Fianna Fáil MEP.

THE full implementation of Irish as an official and working language of the European Union, which was due to come into effect yesterday, has been delayed because the Government has failed to recruit enough interpreters.

TRANSPORT Minister Martin Cullen will not be able to negotiate with US airlines to over-fly Shannon before the EU reaches agreement on an open skies deal, according to the European Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot.

FINE GAEL leader Enda Kenny has been asked to explain what role, if any, he played in an attempt to stop the Taoiseach addressing the European Parliament on the ratification of the EU constitution.

IRISH is to become an official working language within the European Union on January 1.

THE Government has been accused of being “worse than useless” for its lack of support for thousands of Irish who lost a major portion of their pension savings as a result of the near-collapse of British insurance society, Equitable Life.