The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, on a visit to Budapest, has supported Hungary's demand for early entry to the European Union, telling politicians, economists and business people that Ireland's membership had allowed the State to emerge from Britain's shadow.
During a day of meetings with political and business leaders, Mr Ahern stressed the role EU membership had played in Ireland's economic regeneration. Supporting Hungary's desire for rapid accession, he said the EU was not "an exclusive club".
Mr Ahern and Hungary's Prime Minister, Mr Viktor Orban, signed a co-operation agreement between the two states yesterday morning, involving an exchange of information on illegal drug-trafficking, money-laundering and other cross-border criminal activity.
At a joint press conference after the signing ceremony, Mr Ahern indicated support for Hungary's demand for rapid accession. A small number of states were now ready to join the EU, he said, and they should be allowed in quickly.
He said there were important issues concerning the treaties governing the EU that would have to be considered by an Inter-Governmental Conference (IGC) of the EU. "It is our view in Ireland and many other countries that an IGC of a more limited kind could be quickly concluded," he said. "I don't believe this should create any delay or obstacles."
Mr Orban said Hungary should be allowed join the EU by the start of 2002. "The results of the Hungarian economy speak for themselves," he said. "Eighty per cent of our trade is with the EU and we have done a lot of work in harmonising our laws in line with EU regulations.
"If anyone in Hungary needs to be convinced of the benefits of EU membership, we need only tell them of the history of Ireland in the past 25 years," said Mr Orban. "Ireland has achieved remarkable results in global terms."
Speaking later at Budapest's Economics University, Mr Ahern said that until 1973, Ireland had been very much, in the words of one commentator, an island behind an island. "European membership allowed us emerge from that shadow," he said.
He said Ireland's economic success was due not only to the economic benefits of EU membership, but also to the psychological effect of partnership with Europe.
"A generation ago Ireland took its place in what was then the European Economic Community, with a certain nervous sense of challenge, but also with a real sense of finally reasserting our European identity on the basis of equality and respect."
Last night Mr Ahern, his partner, Ms Celia Larkin, and officials flew to Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital, where he will meet the President and Prime Minister this morning before travelling to Kosovo to visit Irish soldiers and to meet leaders of the international military and civilian presence there.