Ahern supports joint bid for soccer event

The Government is prepared to launch a joint bid for the 2012 European soccer championships alongside Scotland, the Taoiseach revealed last night.

The issue was raised in talks with Scotland's First Minister, Mr Henry McLeish, and senior Scottish political figures during Mr Ahern's one-day official visit to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The Scots are keen to launch a bid for the 2008 championships, but admit it could be difficult to meet UEFA's standards on their own. "If they can, they want to go it alone and we are prepared to back them on that. If not, they would like to do it with us [in 2012] and we are prepared to back that too," said Mr Ahern.

The championships could not be part-hosted by the Republic unless Stadium Ireland was built, the Taoiseach said; "without it there is no chance". He has had preliminary talks with the Football Association of Ireland which has spoken with the Scottish Football Association.

Last night, Mr Ahern, along with Mr McLeish and other lea ding Scottish figures, opened a memorial at Carfin to those who left Ireland in the years after the Famine. A small group of protesters outside the Catholic grotto heckled Mr Ahern on his arrival, demanding the release of the IRA men jailed for the death of Det Sgt Jerry McCabe.

Earlier, the Irish and Scottish authorities moved to put the embarrassment caused by the cancellation in February of a visit by the Taoiseach to Scotland firmly behind them.

A local MP, Mr Frank Roy, had warned then that the presence of the Taoiseach at the opening of the Famine memorial could inflame tempers at a Celtic-Rangers football match. The furore in Scotland, which deeply embarrassed the Scottish Executive, led Mr Roy, a Labour MP, to resign his position as a parliamentary private secretary.

Shortly afterwards, the Executive issued an invitation to Mr Ahern to return to Edinburgh to address the Scottish Parliament. Questioned about the February cancellation, Mr Ahern was quick to deny that it had damaged Irish-Scottish relations.

In Carfin last night, he said it was "ironic" that the only protesters were republicans, given the fears that his visit could provoke loyalist violence. "The main message is one of building on the co-operation which we have developed over the last few years. The relationship between Scotland and Ireland has never been better," he went on.

Shortly before Mr Ahern rose to deliver his address to the parliament, the Scottish National Party MSP, Ms Winnie Ewing, protested at the display of a Union Jack in the chamber. Until recently, the parliament displayed only the Scottish flag, the EU flag and the country flag of the VIP during official visits. "However changes were agreed last week," said a spokesman.

The Irish Consulate-General in Edinburgh was not consulted, he said, though they had taken advice from the Foreign Office in London. The Irish delegation made no complaint about the matter.

Earlier, Mr Ahern, accompanied by the Secretary of State for Scotland, Ms Helen Liddell, officially opened the Bank of Ireland's new branch in Edinburgh.