Who is Minister for Europe?

It comes as a surprise, given how fervently all major political parties in the Oireachtas have been telling us they are fans of Europe and that a future within Europe is a sine qua non for the State, to learn that the Government cannot find a single nominee among its 32 members on which to settle responsibility for European affairs.

That's right. Ireland has no Minister for European Affairs. Given that, by common consent, our membership of the European Economic Community and its successor, the European Union, have been the basis on which we have built the modern, confident Ireland, it seems a strange omission. More so when you discover the special responsibility of one of our junior ministers is livestock breeding and horticulture.

Now that the public has delivered a stunning rejection of the Nice Treaty uniformly supported by the establishment, it might be appropriate for the Government to re-evaluate its priorities and place Europe and the communication of what goes on there to the electorate higher in the firmament.

AIB's Michael Buckley took his peers in business to task for abdicating responsibility in putting the case for Europe during the referendum campaign. Sounds like they're not alone.