Europe on the verge of historic agreement

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern hopes to make European history today when he gets agreement on the EU’s first constitution.

While he insisted he was not over-optimistic, he admitted that the atmosphere among the EU's leaders was very positive at the two-day summit in Brussels.

They know the Union cannot afford another defeat after the failure to agree the constitution last December and the trouncing most governments took at last week's European elections.