EU:Taoiseach Bertie Ahern may be embroiled in a fight for political survival at the Mahon tribunal, but he is currently third favourite in the race to become Europe's first president.
Bookmaker Paddy Power is offering punters odds of 5/1 on Mr Ahern to secure the plum new European job expected to be created in January 2009. Former British prime minister Tony Blair is favourite to become "Mr Europe" at odds of 2/1, while the longest-serving EU prime minister, Luxembourg's Jean Claude Junker, is listed at 3/1.
Among the other odds on offer: Denmark's Anders Fogh Rasmussen 6/1; Poland's Aleksander Kwasniewski 8/1; Italy's Silvio Berlusconi 25/; and, most improbably, Al Gore 500/1 and George Bush at 1,000/1.
"Bertie has attracted 102 bets since the company started taking bets. Most of them are small stakes of between €50-€60, while Blair has attracted 137 bets, including one of €500 by an English- based customer," a Paddy Power spokesman said.
Speculation is growing over who will get the job, which will co-ordinate the work of the 27 EU states. Mr Blair has hinted that he is interested if it comes with the right powers and the Taoiseach is also thought to be interested.
Mr Ahern is Europe's second- longest serving leader. He is well-respected in Brussels after securing an agreement on the EU constitution in 2004. Next week he travels to three European capitals, Warsaw, Vienna and Ljubljana, to discuss EU business, giving him an ideal opportunity to lobby for support to become president of the European Council.
British Liberal MEP Andrew Duff, who sits on the influential constitutional affairs committee at the European Parliament, said: "He is a strong personality, has a lot of experience and is clearly very committed to the EU. Clearly he can't be ruled out.
"But he has the distinct disadvantage that he isn't in any of the three big European political groups as Fianna Fáil sit with the rather exotic membership of the UEN group . . . it is also likely that Mr Ahern would need cross-party support in the Dáil to secure the position, particularly given that we all know what is going on in each other's domestic politics in the EU."
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny recently told journalists in Brussels that he did not think Mr Ahern was fit for holding office in Ireland, never mind in Europe.