Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

The Taoiseach is pretty upfront in his remarks and he states categorically that the intention of this meeting is not to take decisions or draw conclusions - that is in the fifth paragraph of the script he delivered to us. If anything characterises the manner in which the European institutions have failed to deal with the crisis in which we find ourselves, that pretty much sums it up. The Taoiseach is here briefing us before heading off to a meeting at which he believes decisions will not be taken nor conclusions drawn. That is extremely telling.

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