Some credit due to Duisenberg

Having taken all the brickbats when the euro was at the wrong end of a hiding in the currency markets, you can scarcely blame European Central Bank president, Mr Wim Duisenberg, for trying to grab some of the glory now that it seems the novice currency is finding its feet.

After, all the performance of the euro-zone economies is strong and getting stronger - in the Republic's case some, including Mr Duisenberg, seem to argue that it is too strong. Interest rates, while rising, are still below those in the US and Britain and the euro is back at a healthier 95.5 US cents, having languished below the crucial 90 US cent threshold for a short time.

With the latest 50 basis point rise in rates, Mr Duisenberg and his colleagues seem confident that they can continue to bolster the euro while keeping the damper on inflation in most euro zone states.

Good luck to him. The only trouble now is the pervading impression that the euro's rise from the sick-bed has more to do with the decline of the dollar and sterling than with any sudden improvement in Frankfurt. In the US, Federal reserve chairman, Mr Alan Greenspan, has been determinedly talking down the dollar as has the British chancellor, Gordon Brown, and the governor of the Bank of England, Eddie George.

If Mr Duisenberg can claim any credit for the recent performance of the currency, it probably has more to do with the fact that he has finally managed to orchestrate the members of the ECB governing council and executive board to speak with the same voice - no mean feat in its own right in an ever-fractious EU.