What a hilarious and elaborate parlour game the British presidency of the European Union devised for all in Brussels last weekend, when the single currency was to get its final rubber stamp.
Friday evening got the event off to a great start, when the crack Whitehall team forgot to organise a dinner for the finance ministers. This meant that the 15 EU finance ministers, 15 central bankers, 15 heads of finance departments and all their advisers, were cut loose onto the quiet streets of the Belgian capital.
Alarmed at his predicament, Britain's treasurer, Gordon Brown, asked his press secretary where he was supposed to be eating. It turned out that the presidency had been looking after its own, and had a restaurant reservation. No such luck for our own Charlie McCreevy, who could not get a reservation anywhere. He had to make do with McSweeney's pub, on the other side of town from the meeting. Sadly, Amateur Night turned into Groundhog Day, with a repeated example on Saturday of a presidency not quite ready for prime time. This involved abandoning media briefings as soon as any "foreign" (i.e. not British) journalists appeared, overcharging of participants for tea and coffee and perceived showboating by the British prime minister Tony Blair.
None of this could prevent our Bertie Ahern from providing the best quote of the weekend.
Pressed by reporters on his view about who would get the top slot at the European Central Bank, the Taoiseach retorted: "Here we are at a momentous moment in history, and we're wrangling over the best paid job in Europe." E - provoked a spectacular stampede by 1,500 bored hacks down the corridor looking for more quotes.
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