IT WILL be the biggest political meeting ever held on Irish soil. Twenty six European leaders will be joined by 1,000 senior officials, 2,000 journalists and 400 Irish staff for the two day summit at Dublin Castle.
The Minister of State, Mr Gay Mitchell, has chaired the committee co ordinating the Presidency arrangements for the past two years, and he appears to have counted everything. There will be 1,000 desks for the print media, 700 telephone extensions, 120 equipped work areas for broadcasters, four television studios and to live broadcasting points, he said.
"There will also be a further 250 telephone extensions in the delegation area, 60 photocopiers and 95 fax machines have also been installed for use by the delegations and the media," he said. The castle will bristle with mobile phones while a medium sized rain forest of paper will be used.
Mr Mitchell has more numbers. "Over the two days more than 5,000 meals and around 25,000 cups of tea and coffee will be consumed by delegates and journalists in Dublin Castle, the National Gallery, the Civic Offices in Wood Quay and the Royal Hospital Kilmainham."
He had the good sense not to attempt an estimate of the consumption at the free bar for the 2,000 journalists on Friday night. Nor did he mention something called a "complimentary Taste of Ireland" - believed to include a bottle of whiskey - on offer to members of the press.
The 26 European leaders include those from the 15 EU member states and the 11 applicant members. Mr Mitchell estimates that the two day meeting will bring up to £5 million into the local economy, while the Presidency as a whole has brought some £35 million into the State as a result of the more than 100 Presidency meetings in Ireland.
Among the Dublin hotels benefiting from this European cash are the Berkeley Court, which will host the delegations of Austria, Finland, Portugal, as well as some of the Italians and Germans, and the European Commission; the Conrad, which houses the Danes, French and Dutch; Jurys Towers, which will host the rest of the Italians; and the Shelbourne, which will accommodate the Belgians, Luxembourgers and the rest of the French and Germans. The Spanish and British will stay at the Westbury.
For those seeking to protest against their least favourite European leader, a trip to these hotels may prove fruitless. While the delegations will stay in the hotels, many of the leaders will be housed elsewhere.
. Government and opposition socialist leaders from EU member states met in Dublin yesterday for their traditional pre summit gathering. The meeting, hosted by the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, discussed the preparations for Economic and Monetary Union and the chapter on unemployment proposed for the EU treaty.
Those attending included the Austrian Chancellor, Dr Franz Vranitsky; the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mr Pout Nyrup Rasmussen; the Swedish Prime Minister, Mr Goran Persson; the Finnish Prime Minister, Mr Pavo Lipponen; the British Labour leader, Mr Tony Blair; the SDLP leader, Mr John Hume; two European Commissioners, Ms Ritt Bjerregaard and Ms Monika Wulf Mathies; and the President of the European Parliament, Dr Klaus Haensch.