Polish PM to meet Ahern

Poland's prime minister, Mr Leszek Miller, will meet the Taoiseach in Dublin on January 29th to discuss how to revive negotiations on the EU's constitutional treaty.

Poland, along with France, Germany and Spain, is at the centre of a dispute over voting rights in the EU that led to the collapse of last month's summit in Brussels.

Mr Miller's office in Warsaw said that the decision to visit Dublin followed a 30-minute telephone conversation with the Taoiseach.

"Prime Minister Ahern said he was ready to meet the head of the Polish government and to discuss with him possibilities to continue the intergovernmental conference on the European constitution," the statement said.

Mr Miller, who is recovering from injuries sustained in a helicopter crash last month, said yesterday that he would return to work at the end of next week.

The Taoiseach's efforts to reach an early deal on the constitutional treaty received further encouragement yesterday when the French President, Mr Jacques Chirac, said he would support any move to revive the talks.

Mr Chirac's spokeswoman said that the Taoiseach and the French president exchanged views on the issue in a telephone conversation.

"The president assured the Irish prime minister of France's support as he undertakes the difficult task of the presidency.

"France is open to pursuing such contacts and to helping the Irish presidency to assess possibilities for moving forward," she said.

An opinion poll published this month shows that France is the only country in the EU where a majority opposes the accession of 10 new member-states in May. Fifty-five per cent of French citizens oppose enlargement, compared to 36 per cent in the EU as a whole.