PRESIDENT MARY McAleese has said chancellor Angela Merkel is doing a "phenomenal job" after meeting the German leader in Berlin yesterday.
The two leaders met on day two of the president's three-day State visit to Germany that included a visit to the Reichstag and a speech at Berlin's Humboldt University.
"She has a very low-key, very effective style and I'm very proud of what she has accomplished," said Mrs McAleese of Dr Merkel, adding that she hoped for a day when women leaders in politics and business would become a matter of fact. "We're coming up to 17 years now of uninterrupted female presidencies. There's a whole generation of kids for whom that's perfectly normal; it's natural and they who don't question it."
Chancellor Merkel said she was looking forward to visiting Ireland "shortly" at the invitation of the Taoiseach.