Dr. Peter Rigney:

It is called the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or FYROM. How do we deal with that? Then, how do we deal with the Kosovo issue? The Serbs feel badly done by and feel they were set up. These are political issues. By and large, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions does not take a view on accession matters – these are political matters. At a broad level of principle it is difficult to make an argument that if a country of the former Yugoslavia fulfils membership requirements, it should not enter into some sort of dialogue with the Union.