Everyone back to my place, say Ministers

GOVERNMENT ministers’ home constituencies will reap financial dividends from Ireland’s EU Presidency next year.

The finishing touches are being made to the calendar of events for the EU Presidency, which begins on January 1, but Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy, Minister for Foreign Affairs Brian Cowen and Minister for Health Micheál Martin are among the Ministers to schedule EU ministerial summits and conferences in their home bases.

At this stage, probably the most high-security event of the Presidency will be the meeting of European and Mediterranean countries, including Israel and Palestine, in Dublin in May.

Asian and European countries will meet in Dublin in April.

It is still not clear if an inter-governmental conference to sign-off on the new EU Treaty will need to be held next year, or if it would be in this country. Also uncertain is the venue for the proposed EU-US Summit to take place during the first six months of the year, as it has yet to be decided which continent will host the meeting, aimed at mending trans-Atlantic relations following the Iraq crisis.

There will definitely not be any full European Council meetings to be chaired by the Taoiseach hosted in this country, as these events will all be held in Brussels in the future.

The Government is looking to maintain its reputation for organising efficiently operated EU Presidencies.

Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche has claimed that his EU colleagues are amazed at the advanced stage of planning for the Presidency.

This weekend, the Taoiseach, Minister Cowen and Minister Roche will publish a provisional calendar of events for the six months, and will also launch the logo for the Presidency. Aside from the high-profile Ministerial council meetings, hundreds of meetings of officials from across the EU are also due to take place.

Minister for Agriculture Joe Walsh is bucking the trend, as he will not be hosting his colleagues in his Cork South-West constituency.

Instead, the Agriculture and Fisheries Summit will be held in the neighbouring constituency of Kerry South, as Minister Walsh brings his colleagues back to Killarney the scene of an infamous protest during Ireland's last EU Presidency in 1996, when farmers broke through the security barrier at the Hotel Europe.

The Tánaiste is also stepping outside her back yard by holding the Competitiveness Council in the Shannon region.

Minister Cowen brings Foreign Ministers to Tullamore in April, Minister Martin is holding a conference on preventing heart disease in the southside of Cork city in May, and Minister McCreevy holds an ECOFIN conference in the Event Centre at Punchestown for two days in April.

Minister for Transport Seamus Brennan is planning meetings in March and June, but venues have yet to be decided. Minister for Arts John O'Donoghue will be chairing a meeting of Culture Ministers in late May.

Notably, Minister for Defence Michael Smith has not yet decided whether to hold a meeting, as the debate rages over Ireland's participation in a European army. But it is possible that an informal meeting of Defence Ministers will be held, and a decision will be taken in the coming weeks.