THE GOVERNMENT has complained to the Czech embassy about a decision by Czech president Václav Klaus to meet Declan Ganley on a state visit to Ireland next week.
Mr Klaus, who is deeply eurosceptic and an opponent of the Lisbon Treaty, is expected to host a dinner for Mr Ganley. He will also meet President Mary McAleese, Taoiseach Brian Cowen and other senior politicians on a three-day trip to Dublin and Cork.
A spokesman for the Department for Foreign Affairs said Mr Klaus was free to do what he liked in his own free time on the trip. Privately, though, Iveagh House is furious at what it considers a breach of protocol, and has made representations to the Czech embassy.
Mr Klaus met Mr Ganley in Prague in July after the defeat of the treaty and offered him support to launch Libertas as a pan-EU political party. He declared the treaty "dead" following the Irish vote in June and is threatening not to give his presidential signature to the treaty to complete ratification in the Czech Republic.
Earlier this week the Czech constitutional court postponed its own ruling on the treaty's constitutionality following representations by Mr Klaus. The court had planned to give its verdict on November 10th, the first day of Mr Klaus's official visit. It will now give its verdict on November 25th.
This means the Czech parliament will probably not ratify the treaty before it takes over the EU presidency in January. Neither Mr Ganley nor Mr Klaus's spokesman returned phone calls yesterday.