McCreevy was Taoiseach's 'only choice'
Wednesday, 21 July 2004
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said the Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, who has been nominated as Ireland's next EU commissioner, was his only candidate for the post.
Mr Ahern said he owed it to someone who had done so much for Ireland to offer him the best position possible, and that he had discussed the job with Mr McCreevy last September.
Speaking this afternoon, Mr McCreevy said he had expressed interest in the job as EU Commissioner in talks with the Taoiseach last September.
Mr McCreevy will continue as Finance Minister until the Autumn reshuffle of the cabinet.
The director general of the employers' group IBEC, Turlough O'Sullivan, praised Mr McCreevy, describing him as one of the best finance ministers. Small Firms Association director Pat Delaney described Mr McCreevy as a 'colossus'.
Meanwhile, the man nominated to lead the Commission has implicitly rejected pressure from Germany and France to appoint a powerful 'super-commissioner' in charge of economic reform.
Former Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso told the European Parliament there would be no 'first and second class commissioners' under his leadership. France and Germany had called for a vice-president to coordinate economic policy.
- Morning Ireland: Conor Hunt takes a look at Mr McCreevy's career to date
- Morning Ireland: George Lee, Economics Editor, and Charlie Bird, Chief News Correspondent, analyse Mr McCreevy's move
- Morning Ireland: Seán Whelan, Europe Editor, explains Mr McCreevy's likely portfolio
- 1 News: Séan Whelan, Europe Editor, reports on the criticism by Labour and Fine Gael MEPs in Strasbourg of Bertie Ahern's nomination of Charlie McCreevy to the EU Commission
- 1 News: The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern explains his decision to nominate Charlie McCreevy to the European Commission
- 1 News: Charlie Bird, Chief News Correspondent, reports on how the speculation on Charlie McCreevy's replacement in the Department of Finance is centring on Foreign Affairs Minister Brian Cowen
- 1 News: Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy says he changed his mind about his interest in an EC post based on personal reasons, and says he hopes to secure a significant portfolio in the new commission
