It makes no sense to paste over everything with euro bonds or other apparent instruments of solidarity, only to then find ourselves in an even more difficult situation in Europe. – German chancellor Angela Merkel rejects a call from French president François Hollande for the introduction of jointly issued euro bonds as a means of tackling the euro zone crisis.
Corporation tax could very well be put on the table and we may not be in a very strong position to say "no". – Minister of State for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton argues a No vote in the fiscal treaty referendum could jeopardise the State's low corporate tax rate.
[Merkel's] medicine is poison. Crisis countries' economies are being strangled. This path leads nowhere; this madness across Europe has to end. – Greece's Left Party leader Klaus Ernst.
You could argue that if I had less access to money then I would not have got into so much trouble, and it's true. – Independent TD and developer Mick Wallace on the decline in his financial fortunes.
When you're president, as opposed to the head of a private equity firm, then your job is not simply to maximise profits. Your job is to figure out how everybody in the country has a fair shot. – US president Barack Obama attempts to embarrass his Republican rival Mitt Romney over his record as former chief executive of private equity firm Bain Capital.
Why don't you send Jedward to represent us? They at least might stand up for Ireland's interests. – Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams suggests the Taoiseach should step aside from the EU summit.
Is he speaking English? – The UK's Eurovision hopeful Engelbert Humperdinck tries to keep up when one of the Jedward twins utters a characteristic, rapid-fired comment.
He will play, but why run the risk? – Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has soccer writers scratching their heads with his assessment of Shay Given's fitness for today's match with Bosnia. It transpired he intended to say Given wanted to play.