Prodi should get Ahern broadside

IF sparks fail to fly when EU commissioners gather for today’s major convention on Ireland’s six-month presidency of the European club, then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will be falling down on the job.

The scene is set for an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation between Mr Ahern and commission president Romano Prodi, whose claim that a “two-speed Europe” unless there is agreement this year on an EU constitution, has deepened divisions between member States.

Such an unwarranted intrusion into the political arena by a civil servant is unacceptable and the Taoiseach must leave no doubt about this in Mr Prodi’s mind.