Sinnott among Sarkozy's guests at Élysée

FRANCE:IRISH MEP for Munster Kathy Sinnott yesterday presented President Nicolas Sarkozy with the first concrete test of his willingness to listen to the people of Europe during France's imminent presidency of the EU.

Ms Sinnott is one of two Irish MEPs who campaigned against the Lisbon Treaty, along with Mary Lou McDonald of Sinn Féin. On June 13th, she believed the Yes vote would win, and prepared a speech conceding defeat.

Drawing on that experience, Ms Sinnott said she told Mr Sarkozy: "They have to be careful, because even I was fooled. If you are just asking governments and reading the media, you're not going to know, and you're not going to be able to respond as president of the European Council."

Ms Sinnott, who presides over the Independence/Democracy group in the EU parliament, was invited to the Élysée Palace with eight other group presidents for lunch with Mr Sarkozy. They later went to the National Assembly and Senate, and met prime minister François Fillon.

Mr Sarkozy is tentatively scheduled to visit Ireland on July 11th. "I said I would be very happy to host a meeting with a wide representation of people who voted No - fishermen, farmers, small businesses," Ms Sinnott said. "Obviously, he couldn't accept on the spot. If he comes over, it's at the request of Brian Cowen. I will be contacting Brian Cowen and the ambassador, and hopefully we can do this."

Did the French leader strike her as the sort of man who can solve Ireland's conundrum? "From my angle, if he actually takes me up on my offer, that will give me huge confidence, because it will mean that finally somebody is really genuinely interested in listening," Ms Sinnott said.

Ms Sinnott wore an ivory-coloured suit; the "Respect the Irish No" T-shirt she and other opponents of the treaty sported in the European parliament last week might have left a more lasting impression. The Élysée was "absolutely gorgeous"; the three-course meal was "very nice". Carla Bruni-Sarkozy did not appear, for which "I think we were all disappointed". Ms Sinnott refrained from presenting Mr Sarkozy with a list of demands.

"I did mention one thing, as an example," she said. "My poor fishermen, with their little 4 per cent quota. I mentioned to him that France has an enormous chunk of Ireland's former water quota.

"People say we couldn't open the treaty, but there are things in his gift. He smiled at that."