WE HAVE entered the second half of our EU Presidency and I have been asked by The Irish Times to contribute a Presidency Diary.
The past three months have been extremely busy ones. The July highlight was my first General Affairs Council as president in office. Chairing a Foreign Ministers' meeting is quite an undertaking. The onus is on the chair to make a things happen and keep the agenda flowing.
I have been through enough meetings to know what's needed efficient and impartial chairmanship don't allow meetings go down cul-de-sacs. After a lengthy council debate, I was pleased to get agreement on the long delayed Mediterranean regulation known as MEDA.
Two events stand out from September the Informal Foreign Ministers' meeting in Tralee and the UN week in New York. The latter was among the most intensive weeks of my political career with almost 30 meetings in four days. For that week, the UN becomes a kind of diplomatic marketplace. Ministers from all over the world exchange ideas about pressing international problems.
October has been a whirlwind. The 10 days since the Special Dublin Summit have been especially active.
October 5th: It has been a long day at the European Council which, while it centred on the EU Treaty negotiations, was also marked by great unease about the Middle East.
Two ministerial sessions, and a separate Heads of Government discussion, were devoted to it. There is a clear desire for action, but of what kind? Should we seek to meet Mr Arafat and Mr Netanyahu tomorrow or not? Can it be done at such short notice?
We are on the phone to our ambassadors in Tel Aviv and Cairo (who cover the Palestinians). Given the crisis in the peace process, and the strength of opinion favouring a more active EU role, it seems essential to visit right away.
The word comes through. Meetings have been set up with both sides at the highest level. We will set off first thing in the morning. A day of rest would be welcome, but it's not to be. This is an EU Presidency.
October 6th: The take off time at Baldonnel is 10 a.m. It's a five hour flight and Jerusalem is one hour ahead of Irish time. During the flight our senior officials on Middle East affairs, Richard Townsend and Ken Thompson, review the previous day's meeting and help formulate strategy for Jerusalem and Gaza. Gerry Staunton from my office is still working out the logistical details.
We bring a strong message from EU leaders. The talks beginning at Erez that evening must succeed if confidence is to be restored and further violence avoided. Our first stop is the foreign ministry for a third session in a month with David Levy. We are getting to know one another quite well. I convey to him the EU's very real apprehension that the bright dawn of the Oslo accords might fail to deliver its promise of permanent peace. I sense he now has a better appreciation of the depth of the EU's commitment to seeing the peace process renewed.
Then on to my first ever meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu. I give him the same message and urge him to do all in his power to make the current talks succeed.
My impression that the key to unlocking the current deadlock lies with Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank town of Hebron is reinforced, but there can be no illusions about the difficulties involved.
October 7th: I meet President Arafat in Gaza after midnight. This involves a two hour drive from Jerusalem following a session with Warren Christopher, who is here with the similar mission of coaxing the two sides towards aggreement. I am accompanied by the British consul in Jerusalem who currently represents the EU there.
We cross the border at Erez and the Palestinians escort us the rest of the way. There is a stark contrast between the wealth of Israel and the poverty of Gaza, most evident in the physical infrastructure of roads and buildings.
At our second meeting in a week, the Palestinian leader seems more subdued than usual, but that may be a product of the time of night, travel fatigue he has been to Washington in between and the enormous pressure he must be under.
He wants the EU around the negotiating table. I tell him of our plans to appoint a Special Envoy to the Middle East. Back in Jerusalem at 3.30 a.m. Charlie Bird records an interview for Morning Ireland.
An early morning flight to Cairo. It is a vast and fascinating city. There is no time to see it. I spend three hours with Foreign Minister Amr Moussa (our second meeting in a fortnight) before being rushed through dense traffic to the Suez Canal town of Ismailiya to meet President Mubarak.
The Egyptians are very worried about the state of the peace process and wary of the new Israeli government.
I assure them of the EU's interest in seeing the Oslo Accords fully implemented and make it clear that the EU will keep up its diplomatic effort.
October 12th: The next major Presidency engagement is the EU Southern Africa ministerial in Namibia. The last Irish delegation to visit there, our rugby team, returned home in 1991 after suffering two defeats. We must avoid any repetition of that! This time, we're bringing along our European friends to support us.
Namibia's capital, Windhoek, is a 14 hour flight away. Time to bone up on developments in Southern Africa.
October 14th: As a member of a generation that cut its political teeth opposing apartheid, this was a remarkable sight which could not have happened even a few years ago Twelve Southern African nations are sitting opposite me with a multiracial South African delegation in their midst.
Southern Africa has recently been an international success story with the emergence of a new South Africa, and an independent Namibia. Progress has also been made, on the longstanding conflicts in Angola and Mozambique.
From being Africa's greatest travesty, Southern Africa has become its hope for a better future. Its economic significance is growing and it is making serious forts at regional integration. They aim to create a free trade area in eight years.
October 15th: There was real dialogue around the table and in the corridors. Great emphasis on preventive diplomacy with a focus on Angola and Burundi. There is a strong desire to remove the scourge of landmines and to have success in agreeing a joint approach to this problem. These countries want to be the economic lions of Africa. Already Irish trade with South Africa has doubled in two years.
Time to return to Dublin for the next day's Seanad debate on Northern Ireland and a session with 120 MEPs and national parliamentarians from all over the EU.