Training | 2009.10.25
IoS letters, emails & online postings (25 October 2009)
Your leading article "We won\'t get fooled again" (18 October) outlined the reasons why Tony Blair should not be president of the European Council. You also outlined the criteria needed for the post both within the "very constrained powers" of co-ordination within Europe or as a spokesperson for Europe. You have called for the president to come from one of the smaller countries to act as a unifying signal for the countries within Europe. Not only does Mary Robinson fulfil these criteria; she comes from a smaller country within the eurozone, she has great experience of chairing meetings between nations and she has no specific party-political baggage. However, it is as her work with the UN Commission on Human Rights and her work in global development and democracy, as well as a member of The Elders that would enable her to place Europe within the dynamics of the wider global arena and of the challenges to global pressures for change. Britain supporting Mary Robinson would also help heal some of the pain of the past history between England and Ireland.
For more information, please visit
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/let[...]s-25-october-2009-1808968.html
