February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Iraq “came on the agenda rather quickly at a time when EU foreign policy institutions were not properly established,” Bruton said before the meeting.
The rift over Iraq was not fully the result of the preemptive military action the U.S. implemented, he said.
“Many Europeans, including Irish people, failed to grasp what Sept. 11 meant to Americans,” he said, adding that Europe and the U.S., unified during the Cold War over the common threat of potential nuclear attack by the Soviet Union, will eventually have a better understanding of one another and fences will be repaired. “Europeans learned a lot in the last two years,” he said.
Before departing for the White House, Bruton told reporters assembled at the European Commission headquarters in Washington that his time as taoiseach had taught him a great deal about forming coalitions and a bit about American culture.
“I have traced some of my post-Famine relatives who had left Ireland in the 1850s to Texas,” he said.
When George Bush was governor, some of Bruton’s relatives there arranged for him to be named an honorary Texan.
“I’m also an ambassador of agriculture for North Carolina, an honorary citizen of Sioux City, Iowa, and a general of Washington state,” he added.
Bruton, who will serve a four-year term, would not venture a guess over who would claim the seat in Meath that he held for 35 years, but he did say he would watch for the results.
“I’ll be reading the Meath Chronicle on the internet everyday,” he said. “I’ve never lived outside the same parish in Dunboyne my whole life. It’s going to take some getting used to.”
He will not have much time to ease into the position. Last week, the White House announced President Bush will attend a U.S./EU meeting in Brussels and Berlin in February — a meeting the EU ambassador to Washington hopes will go smoothly.