EU wins peace prize - Unity can prove Oslo judges right

It is easy, as Ireland struggles to cope with impossible bank debt, to scoff at the fact that the Nobel prize for peace has been awarded to the European Union.

That the honour was bestowed by a country that steadfastly remains outside the EU adds to that possibility.

It would be even easier if you are one of the millions of Greeks, Spaniards, Portuguese, or Italians facing life-changing hardship because the euro was set up without the political and monetary foundations needed to secure the currency’s integrity.