In the 1970s I was a member of a European methodological group dealing with the implementation of a technical directive. The meetings were usually informal, working largely in English with the chairman providing translation where needed.
There were then only 9 members of the European Community & the chairman had a truly impressive ability to help with translation into or from any of the languages required; as members we marvelled at this, though each country said that, although he spoke their language very well, he was obviously not a native speaker. So we used to speculate about what his mother tongue might be – Russian or one of the languages of Yugoslavia were favourites. Somehow nobody ever found the right moment to ask him the question directly.
In my time we had only one formal meeting – official country delegations under the leadership of a policy civil servant, simultaneous translation, the works.
It must have been 1979 or 1980, just after the implementation of the European Monetary System with its ERM & snake which I think everybody except the UK had joined. It was humbling to have to field repeated expressions of regret from the others at the meeting (including, if I remember rightly, the Greeks who had been invited in anticipation of their becoming full members of the EC) that the UK had felt that they had to stand apart from this project. I particularly remember the Irish delegate who, without any antagonism, told me it was terribly sad.
The UK stod apart from the Euro too, which at the moment & with hindsight seems like a wise thing to have done.
Hearing the Irish reaction to the latest bail out proposals, listening to RTÉ1 this past week has been painful. There is surprisingly little real boiling spitting anger or hints of insurrection. A feeling of resignation best describes it. And humiliation at what is seen as a loss of the independence that they fought so hard to obtain.
I did not catch the name of the person who explained that it was just another chapter in the history of ‘this isolated island’ which must always struggle to earn its way in the world.
Or of the man who said ‘We do poverty terribly well.’
