MIRIAM LORD'S WEEK:THE TAOISEACH has a hard act to follow next year when Ireland's presidency of the EU rolls around. In the Seanad on Wednesday, Fianna Fáil's Terry Leyden told him as much.

“In 1990, when I was a minister of State, another Castlebar man, Charles J Haughey, led us and Germany was reunified under the Irish presidency. That was some record and I wish the Taoiseach similar success in other fields in the next six months.” To which Enda replied: “I knew the late Mr Haughey had a direct hand in the winning of the Tour de France, but I wasn’t aware that he had also reunited Germany, which is not a bad legacy to leave behind.”

Meanwhile, Enda was walking on air at the Springsteen concert in the RDS on Wednesday after he got to hang out with The Boss backstage before the show began.