TAOISEACH BERTIE Ahern and Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley are to perform a joint opening ceremony at the Battle of the Boyne site in Co Louth.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern told a group of visiting foreign journalists at Carlingford, Co Louth yesterday that the formal opening would be conducted by Mr Ahern and Mr Paisley once diary arrangements were made.
"I think it would be fitting that the formal opening of the Boyne site should be conducted by the Taoiseach and the First Minister. With both men stepping down shortly, it would be an evocative landscape to bid farewell and close this chapter of their careers," he said.
The Minister also told the journalists - drawn from leading newspapers in Europe, Japan and China - that he believed Irish people would vote yes for the Lisbon Treaty. "We have always worked to ensure that the interests of smaller member states like ourselves are protected, and this treaty safeguards the delicate balance between the interests of the larger and smaller members.
"The major challenges which we face today are global; climate change, rising energy costs, trans-national crime and the global economic downturn. Our capacity alone to defend our national interests are minimal," he added.
