The recent Berlin Summit was held in the Intercontinental Hotel and the press centre was up the road. The zoo was in between. This naturally led to a number of disparaging comments from both parties. Indeed some hacks on looking out their windows towards the momentous events at the summit beheld baboons and wondered that with all the backscratching and posing going on which group was the most impressive.
The briefings for the press took place in each state's briefing room in the press centre. The Irish, uniquely, chose the entrance to the zoo. To save time the hacks were informed on three different occasions that the ministers would meet them at the half way mark. Thus David Andrews, Charlie McCreevy, Joe Walsh and their officials held forth each time to half a dozen hacks between two big stone elephants outside Berlin Zoo. The hacks were given 10 minutes' notice to get to the rendezvous, but as the ministers were invariably some 20 minutes late, they hung around listening for the animals who were remarkably quiet and probably asleep.
The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern wisely did not choose the zoo gates for his 6.30 a.m. press conference. That was held indoors. Maybe he realised a dawn chorus of monkeys and parrots behind him would take from the solemn matters he had to impart.