Taoiseach in Brussels for talks on new EU treaty

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, is travelling to Brussels today for talks aimed at rescuing the proposed EU Constitution.

The document was drawn up a number of years ago to bring together all the existing EU treaties and to introduce new changes like an EU president and foreign minister.

However, it fell at the first hurdle after being rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands.

EU officials have refused to give up on the project and leaders of the various member states are meeting in Brussels today and tomorrow to discuss how to press ahead with some of the changes.

They are expected to drop the name "constitution" and replace it with "reform treaty", which they believe would be more palatable to EU citizens.

A referendum on the changes is likely to happen in Ireland within the next year or so.