Barroso ‘confident’ in Ireland

EUROPEAN Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso last night said he was “fully confident” that Ireland would overcome its economic crisis.

Mr Barroso told academics in Cambridge that he had “great” confidence in the Irish Government.

And he said the decisions the European Commission was taking to support struggling European states were “the right ones”.

“I have great confidence in the Irish Government,” said Mr Barroso, when answering questions following a lecture at Cambridge University.

“I am fully confident that the Irish economy will overcome this situation, which was the result of unprecedented behaviour in the financial sector.”

He told an audience of university staff and students: “Overall the European Union is not in a bad position in terms of debt. What we have is a problem in some member states.”