OSCE meeting - Prominent part to play

People can be forgiven for not knowing Ireland held the chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

However, this country gained new prominence in world affairs yesterday when hopes of a breakthrough in the Syrian conflict were focused on Dublin as three of the most powerful global players met behind closed doors in the capital.

For US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the tantalising prize in the final days of her office was to convince her Russian counterpart, foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, to play a more positive role in ending a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Also present was the UN envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi.