One MEP very happy with his lot in the new Parliament is Munster's Pat Cox. The voting figures in this week's elections for the new president and vice-presidents confirmed that the deal his 50-strong Liberal group made with the largest party, the European People's Party, will work and see him take the presidency of the parliament in two and a half years.
Mindful that a week is a long time in politics and alliances can unravel, Cox says his chances of getting the chair are "substantial". He finds the prospect very interesting, but has kept it at arm's length. "It is not getting at me emotionally. I have locked it out. But it is fantastic, if it comes off. I am extremely pleased - in personal terms anyone would be thrilled.
"What I love about the possibility it offers is that it is the greatest proof you could get about the issue of Irish numbers. We are only 15 out of 626, but we have the right attitude because of our connection to the system. We have great networking skills. There are 87 Italians but they have a dreadful attendance record. I am not being elected as an Irishman. The Irishness is my business."
The job is more than just chairing parliamentary sessions. It entails receiving outside representatives, acting as spokesman for MEPs at Euro councils, addressing the twice-yearly EU summits and being broker between the Commission and the Council. "Parliament," says Cox, "has moved in status and is now equal among equals, each of which is represented by its own president."
How did he pull off this first for an Irishman? Cox says that with both left and right short of the 314 majority by about 40 votes, they wouldn't do the normal business, so a stand-off developed between the EPP and the Socialists over which of them should take the chair first. Cox led a 50-strong group and negotiated with both. A deal on jobs and internal reform, but not a coalition, was reached with both. But the Liberals chose the EPP because, with the Commission and the Council left-dominated, Cox's group believed Parliament should provide the balance by veering right.