A high-powered group from Ireland - and that's not counting the hacks - flew from Dublin Airport to Brussels on Thursday of last week to attend the EU summit at Laeken, and the meetings on the margins. On board were Charlie McCreevy, Michael Noonan and Ruair∅ Quinn, senior civil servants, various advisers and lobbyists and general hangers-on.
McCreevy was whisked away in a limo by Irish embassy officials and the rest were left to fend for themselves. All managed quite well, with the exception of the FG leader, who was detained at immigration.
Noonan, it appears, did not have a passport. He had a point. Under the Shengen Agreement, passports were abolished for travel between EU member countries. The problem is that Ireland did not sign up because as Britain wasn't signing, to have done so would have adversely affected the common travel area between our two islands. So technically we should carry a passport. As Quinn sauntered into Belgium waving his passport he was heard to mutter: "I thought these Christian Democrats were supposed to know all about Europe", or words to that effect. A senior civil servant was less kind. He said: "If Noonan turned up at the Forum for Europe he might understand these things."
Anyhow, as Noonan argued with immigration officials, a sympathetic hack telephoned one of our two embassies in Brussels to report his plight. One of the diplomats already speeding towards Laeken with the Minister for Finance was dispatched back to rescue the leader of the Opposition.
So what's the story with Noonan? He's not on any international "wanted list" and with his shiny pate and clean chin he looked the least like Osama bin Laden of all in the Irish group. No - he simply left his passport in Dublin.