IRELAND: When the Taoiseach reports to the European Parliament in Strasbourg today on the outcome of last week's summit, he will deliver what amounts to a mid-term report on Ireland's six-month EU presidency, writes Denis Staunton
Mr Ahern has much to celebrate, not least his success in persuading other EU leaders to seek agreement on the constitutional treaty by June, a deadline most commentators dismissed as impossible after the collapse of last December's summit.
A change of government in Spain and the Madrid massacre strengthened the case for an early deal, but most of the credit for last week's decision belongs to the presidency.
The Taoiseach, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, and senior diplomats led by Mr Bobby McDonagh have brought great skill, dedication and imagination to the search for compromise, winning the confidence of other EU governments in the credentials of the presidency as an honest broker.
The Minister of State for European Affairs, Mr Dick Roche, has also played a valuable role in using his contacts from the Convention on the Future of Europe to gauge opinion in the member-states.
Officials say that Mr Ahern, whose attention tends to wander when confronted with some aspects of EU policy, has engaged enthusiastically with the details of the treaty negotiations.
During the first weeks of the presidency, he hammered home the message that a deal on the constitutional treaty could only become more difficult if it was postponed until later this year. At the end of January he said that a compromise on the most difficult issue - voting in the Council of Ministers - must be based on a system reflecting population size.
By siding openly with France and Germany on the fundamental issue of the voting system, Mr Ahern made it clear to Spain and Poland that no deal was possible unless they abandoned their attachment to the system of weighted votes agreed at Nice.
Warsaw indicated that it was ready to negotiate, and even Spain's outgoing Prime Minister, Mr José Maria Aznar, showed a willingness to compromise, despite snarling about Ireland's abandonment of Nice so soon after its ratification.
Progress on the constitutional treaty may have been facilitated by the general sense of goodwill generated by the presidency's efficient handling of the day-to-day business of running the EU. Meetings start on time and usually end ahead of schedule, and Ireland's diplomats are highly regarded in Brussels.
Some of the presidency's more important achievements have been unglamorous, such as reaching agreement on proposals to liberalise Europe's rail freight business after many years of negotiations.
There have been setbacks, too, notably an early failure to reach agreement on a new regime for MEPs' pay and expenses. A deal on a single European patent has eluded the presidency so far and the much-trumpeted attempt to place the Lisbon Strategy for economic growth at the top of the EU's agenda has been less than a complete success.
The presidency's most serious misjudgment came after the Madrid bombings on March 11th, when the response was hesitant and inadequate. The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, represented the Government with dignity when he travelled to Madrid the following day, but there was some surprise that the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste or the Minister for Foreign Affairs was not present.
The contrast with the Government's response to September 11th, 2001, when the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, swathed in black, announced a national day of mourning, was striking.
As presidency officials hesitated over whether to call an emergency meeting of EU ministers, politicians from Germany, France and Belgium rushed to make suggestions for EU action, giving the impression that the presidency was not in control of the agenda.
The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, who was in South Africa at the time of the Madrid attacks, has moved subsequently to take charge of the EU response and he was applauded yesterday at the end of a meeting of justice and interior ministers.
Among other ministers, the Minister for Finance has proved critics - including this newspaper - to be wrong in chiding him for resisting an early review of the Stability and Growth Pact. The European Commission has quietly dropped plans to propose an overhaul of the pact, and Mr McCreevy was reflecting the view of most finance ministers in opposing it.
Mr Cowen has been the presidency's Cinderella, travelling incessantly and working exceptionally long hours in pursuit of the EU's foreign policy agenda but receiving little attention.
Recent events suggest there is little prospect of progress in the Middle East conflict during the Irish presidency, although Dublin will host the first face-to-face meeting between Israeli and Palestinian ministers in May during a European-Mediterranean summit.
The next three months will be dominated by the constitutional treaty. A successful summit in June, with agreement on the treaty, would crown a triumphant six months and restore Ireland's reputation in the EU after the ups and down of recent years.