Gilmore open to taking Brussels post

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore left open the notion of a move to Brussels as Ireland's next EU commissioner after his departure as Labour leader but said the appointment was in the gift of Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

“If he asked me sure I’d have to think about it. It’s a long commute from Shankill to Brussels,” Mr Gilmore told reporters at Iveagh House.

Although Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan is widely seen as the favourite to succeed Máire Geoghegan-Quinn in the autumn, the Tánaiste did not rule out the idea of becoming commissioner when asked if he was a candidate.

Commissioner

“It’s not a question of being a candidate for commissioner,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s an election or anything like that. As I understand it the Taoiseach makes the nomination.”

However, he said he was concentrating for the remainder of his time as Minister for Foreign Affairs on the effort to revive talk on the North and visa reform for the undocumented Irish in the US.

“Beyond that I haven’t given any attention to what may happen after the fourth of July,” he said.

Mr Gilmore was speaking after talks with Northern Ireland Secretary of State Theresa Villiers. Each called on Northern leaders to avail of the six-week window before the loyalist marching season to resume talks on flags, parades and the past.

Each condemned Belfast Protestant evangelical pastor James McConnell for his derogatory remarks about Muslims.

“I think they will have caused considerable distress to the Muslim community and I know from conversations with my own constituents where you get public statements of this sort, they are reflected in nastiness, harassment, intimidation on the streets,” Ms Villiers said.