Ireland should go all-out for EU triple crown

THE European council is meeting to adopt a new constitution and to nominate a commission president against a backdrop of voter apathy and the lowest overall voter turnout for the European elections since 1979.

The council has to propose a commission presidential candidate who has credibility and can create the conditions to reverse this poll trend and instill in European citizens the benefits of having the constitution ratified and indeed in membership of the union itself.

It must be a candidate who will not have his or her presidency overshadowed by a debate on whether he or she is likely to be an alternative head of government or party leader in the final year of his/her tenure.