The Prime Minister of Ireland Bertie Ahern paid a two-day official visit to Malta at the weekend. He arrived on the island on Sunday and has met with his Maltese counterpart Prime Minister Fenech Adami at the Auberge de Castille where they discussed Malta's bid to enter the European Union.
Mr Ahern then visited President Guido de Marco at the Palace in Valletta and opposition leader Alfred Sant at San Anton Palace in Balzan. Mr Ahern also addressed the Chamber of Commerce and ended his visit with a state dinner at Castille as guest of honour.
Mr Ahern was no doubt asked to describe the experiences of Ireland since it has joined the EU and he is likely to have emphasized the comments he made at the Institute of European Affairs last year when he said: 'The benefits of membership of the EU have been enormous. I do not simply mean the structural and agricultural transfers that Ireland has received, although of course, I do not wish to deny their importance. Instead, I believe that the more valuable benefit in economic terms, has come through the access to the single market and the underlying discipline of concerted economic planning. It is widely accepted that Ireland made good use of the funds it got and they played an important part in the creation of the current economic success we enjoy.'
Coincidental, perhaps, to Mr Ahern's official visit is the presence of Anthony Coughlan in Malta who has been invited to address the Maltese anti-EU membership National Campaign for Independence. Mr Coughlan is an eminent Irish economist who urged against Ireland's decision to join the European Monetary Union.
Mr Ahern has been in power in the Irish government since June 1997, having been elected leader of the Fianna Fàil political party in 1994. He has served three terms as finance minister and has held the post of assistant whip in parliament as well as Lord Mayor of Dublin.
He is expected to return to Ireland some time today.
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