I propose that Irish government Ministers make a much greater effort to talk in the Dail and to journalists about the business they are doing on our behalf when they meet their counterparts in Europe. That way Irish news, at European level, will become more mainstream.

They should also explain and take responsibility for the compromises they necessarily have to arrive at, rather than just take credit for the 'hand-outs'.

The way the national Media work is that if the politicians are talking about an issue, journalists will report it. But if the politicians are not prepared to make a big noise about the decisions they've made with their European partners on our behalf...then the story won't be run back home. That reinforces the idea of Europe being 'over there' and serves to feed the notion that 'eurocrats' and 'elites' are running the show and putting one over on us.

In reality, there are people in Green Jerseys everywhere in Brussels. There are our ministers at council meetings, our MEPs (of many parties and none) and some fairly top of the range Irish civil servants in the Permanent Representation in Brussels. Not to mention Dublin woman, Catherine Day. She's secretary general of the European Commission and took over the top job from who-was-it? Oh yes...that would be Kildare-man David O'Sullivan.