FRANCE:AT THE demand of the opposition socialists, the French National Assembly will hold a debate today on the parlous state of the country's finances. Prime minister François Fillon has said he is "at the head of a state that is bankrupt".
The result has been a ruthless search for savings and realisable assets, and the French community in Ireland, according to its representative, was appalled to learn their ambassador's residence on Ailesbury Road in Dublin 4 is for sale at a price of €60 million.
"People are very disappointed," says Hélène Conway, who represents the estimated 25,000 French citizens in Ireland in the Assemblée des Français de l'Étranger, a consultative body to the French senate.
"They're a little ashamed. Is France really so badly off that it has to sell its family jewels? When we've sold off our heirlooms, what will be left?"
Ms Conway wrote to the foreign ministry, saying the French community in Ireland did not object to the sale of the consular offices, but were "shocked" by the decision to sell the residence, especially since it was taken while there was no ambassador at the post.
"The French, like the Irish, are attached to this residence, which has become, with time, a symbolic place," she continued. The sale "is perceived as an economic and political abasement of France, an admission of the financial decline of our country".
The sale of the residence was all the more shocking because Ireland has just renovated, entirely at Government expense, the splendid Hôtel de Breteuil, which houses the Irish Embassy and residence in Paris.
"The comparison is not to our advantage," Ms Conway wrote.
Ms Conway notes the timing is particularly bad. Property in Ireland has lost some 10 per cent of its value since the decision was taken, and France will take up the presidency of the EU on July 1st. It is only a slight exaggeration to say ambassador Yvon Roe d'Albert may have to represent France and Europe as a homeless person.
At a recent meeting in Paris, an adviser to the French foreign minister told Ms Conway they "they talk of little else at the [foreign ministry on the] Quai d'Orsay". European diplomats in Dublin tell Ms Conway they "feel sorry" for their French colleague.
Estimates of the value of buildings owned by the French state range from €25 billion to €80 billion. The government raised €700 million by selling property last year, including €404 million for the foreign ministry's international conference centre on the avenue Kléber. A Qatar-based investment fund will turn it into a luxury hotel.