Peter Sutherland is expected to take over as leader of the Irish section of the prestigious Trilateral Commission. It has six Irish members. One of them is Liam Lawlor; the others are Garret FitzGerald, Myles Staunton, Richard Conroy and Richard Burrows. Previous Irish members include Mary Robinson, Ken Whitaker and Michael O'Kennedy. The group - under which the great and good of North America, Asia and Europe meet twice a year in exotic locations to discuss reports on such diverse topics as the north/south divide, monetary systems and fishing - celebrated its 25th anniversary two years ago. Members are not elected or appointed - more invited, and Lawlor is quoted as saying Jack Lynch put him on it. He has been a fairly regular attender, rubbing shoulders with such luminaries as Paul Volker, the former head of the US Central Bank, founder David Rockfeller, former and future ministers, prime ministers and bankers from around the world. The next meeting is in London in March.
Only the attainment of executive office requires a member to resign from the commission and since, given recent events, Lawlor is unlikely to fall into that category, he could be on the commission until the year dot.