Cox expected to win presidency of parliament

The Munster MEP Mr Pat Cox is expected to be elected President of the European Parliament today, in a close contest for the position.

However, both Mr Cox and his main rival for the presidency, Mr David Martin, a Scottish Socialist, have agreed that the support of the smaller groups such as the Greens and the Fianna Fáil-aligned Union for Europe of the Nations, will be crucial.

Yesterday, the Greens appeared split on the issue with the Leinster MEP Ms Nuala Ahern pledging both her support and that of the majority of Green MEPS for Mr Cox. However, the Dublin Green MEP Ms Patricia McKenna said the Green group was definitely split and she herself would be voting for Mr Martin.

The presidency of the European Parliament has become an increasingly more important role in the last decade not least since the parliament sacked the European Commission in 1999 - a move in which Mr Cox played a significant role, commenting: "We have crossed the line from the politics of accounting to the wider politics of accountability."

The five year office of the president previously was rotated between the two biggest groups in the parliament, the EPP and the Socialists. However, in an unexpected move 2½ years ago Mr Cox, by then the leader of the Liberal group in the parliament ousted the Socialists by doing a deal with the EPP. Under that deal the Liberals supported Ms Nicole Fontaine, the current President, in return for a promise of support for Mr Cox.

Mr Cox (49) was born in Dublin but moved to Limerick when he was aged eight. He attended Christian Brothers schools and Trinity College Dublin from where he qualified with a degree in economics. He worked for a time with the Institute of Public Administration as an economist before leaving to teach in the then National Institute for Higher Education in Limerick.

He was an unsuccessful Dáil candidate for Fianna Fáil in Limerick in the 1979 general election but went on in 1982 to a high profile career fronting the current affairs programme Today Tonight for RTÉ. Following the formation of the Progressive Democrats in 1985 he was offered the job of general secretary. He accepted and successfully contested the European elections in 1989.

He won a Dáil seat in Cork South Central in 1992, and was expected to remain in Irish politics. However, after a highly public falling-out with his colleague Mr Des O'Malley over the PD leadership succession, he left the PDs and retained his Munster seat in the 1994 European elections, defeating Mr O'Malley by just 3,000 votes. In 1998 he was appointed leader of the Liberal grouping in the parliament.