Kenny under fire for turning down Sarkozy
Mr Kenny will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin today, his first official visit to the country as Taoiseach.
But he told the Dáil yesterday he had rejected meeting with Mr Sarkozy because of a clash of dates.
Mr Kenny said he was unable to take up Mr Sarkozy’s offer because the date the French suggested clashed with a meeting of the British-Irish Council.
The council was set up under the Good Friday Agreement as a forum for consultation and co-operation between the Irish and British governments and the devolved institutions in the North, Scotland and Wales.
But Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin said it was “incredible” that Mr Kenny would turn down the offer of a meeting with Mr Sarkozy amid the crisis facing the eurozone.
He also urged Mr Kenny to speak up in Berlin today and make it clear that the policies of the ECB were not working.
“The ECB has to act as the central bank for all member states, and not just one,” he said, in reference to the perception that German interests are driving the ECB agenda.
He urged Mr Kenny to tell Ms Merkel that the ECB “must stop the policies that drove three countries out of the bond markets”.
In response, Mr Kenny said he would “rearrange” the meeting with Mr Sarkozy, stressing that the initial dates discussed had simply not suited.
