Bertie Ahern

But they've strong support from the United States, they've strong support from many other countries in Europe and it's going to be hard to say no.

Bertie Ahern

But then you have, like in Nice, when we passed the Nice, we passed the Amsterdam, you pass that treaty and that becomes part of your legal base and we have the Court of Justice which regularly arbitrates on a law.

Bertie Ahern

But the effect of the vote was that enlargement was held up. So we had to go back and change the context obviously to do with the neutrality issue, which was the biggest issue in the Irish campaign.

Bertie Ahern

But our view on citizenship and our views certainly on people coming to work here, which is the question, has been a very open one and a very tolerant one.

Bertie Ahern

But many people in several European countries, and large numbers of Russian people, are coming in, they're coming in on working visas.

Bertie Ahern

But in many other areas there's not and I know there's quite a divergence of views on this. I do think the educational bodies within Europe have to try to agree on their own standards authority.

Bertie Ahern

But a decade ago or so we had one on the Maastricht Treaty. It was about how high finance in Europe was going to work, it was extremely complex - how do you explain that to the man and woman in the street?

Bertie Ahern

Before you could be as competitive as you liked but you'd nowhere to trade your goods and services.

Bertie Ahern

As long as we have a position - I won't move until you move - and won't do this until you do that - you'll never get anywhere.

Bertie Ahern

And the Irish people have coped I think with this very, very well in what is an enormous change for us in terms of what's happened for the last 150 years.

Bertie Ahern

And obviously since many countries have not found it possible from the very start on the 1st May to be able to allow people from countries that are enlarging means that they're not going to allow in Russians.

Bertie Ahern

And all the time we're trying to keep that it is a nation - it is a group of nation states working together. So what are the ground rules?

Bertie Ahern

Although no country's the same or no hostility's the same, no division is the same, a conflict resolution has many things that are similar. And I think the success of the agreement in Northern Ireland in terms of conflict resolution has many parallels that can be used elsewhere.

Bertie Ahern

A number of points about this - I don't disagree with reform to try to help the caller from Cape Town and to help agriculture produced in the developing world.

Bertie Ahern

A decision has to be made next December exactly when the final stages of negotiation between Romania, Bulgaria and the Commission are presently going on.

Bertie Ahern