Kenny angered by claim he acted like 'eejit' with Sarkozy

THE TAOISEACH reacted sharply to a claim by the Sinn Féin leader that he had been over-friendly with the French president at the EU summit in Brussels on Monday.

Asking Enda Kenny how much austerity he had signed up to in the fiscal treaty, Gerry Adams accused him of being “buddy, buddy” and playing the “amadán” with Nicolas Sarkozy.

Later he said: “It is inappropriate for a Taoiseach to act like an eejit when he meets the French president”.

Mr Kenny said: “For you to get up here, above everybody else, and talk about meeting people ... when you yourself were ‘buddy, buddy’ with some very shadowy creatures over the past 30 years ... At least the French president is elected democratically by his people ... and everybody who attends that meeting is quite entitled to give good wishes, or whatever, to everybody they meet there because we have to work together in the interests of Europe.”

Mr Kenny said he had been asked in Armagh to apologise on the State’s behalf for people who were murdered in Northern Ireland by those who crossed the Border and were deemed to be in safe houses.

He had to say that the organisation involved was the State’s enemy because it murdered gardaí, Army personnel and innocent civilians.

“For the buddy, buddies of that group, who Deputy Adams knows and with whom he associated, the truth will come out some time,” Mr Kenny added.

Mr Adams said he would ignore the Taoiseach’s remark because he had not answered the question on the treaty’s implications.

Mr Kenny repeated that the Government had asked the Attorney General for formal legal advice, which would be given in due course and acted on.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said it would be morally right to consult the people on the treaty, especially given the centrality of our relationship with Europe regarding our economic future. “We should not be afraid of consulting the people on this issue.”

Mr Kenny said that Mr Martin was using “peculiar phraseology”, adding that the Fianna Fáil leader had not actually said that a referendum should be held.

He added that the people would be properly informed on the issue.

“They have had a flavour of the discussions that have taken place, but Deputy Martin will understand that the final text was only agreed yesterday evening.”

He was sure that Mr Martin supported fiscal discipline, proper budgetary oversight and the opportunities for growth and job creation, not only in Ireland but across the euro zone and union.

Mr Martin said the Taoiseach had neglected the public dimension of the debate and the preparations leading up to the treaty to an alarming degree.

Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins said the fiscal compact was a treaty for permanent austerity and provided for permanent attacks on the living standards and public services of ordinary Europeans.

The Government’s obsession was to secure a wording for the austerity treaty that it hoped would avoid a referendum.

“Is it any wonder photographs have appeared in the media around the world today showing President Sarkozy patting the Taoiseach on the head? I noticed in some of the television shots that a number of other prime ministers also patted him on the head as they passed him by.”

Mr Kenny accused Mr Higgins of making “a long, rambling discourse which I thought was more of an attempt at a left hook than a pat on the head”.

He said the Cabinet would act on the Attorney General’s advice when it became available.