European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at University College Cork today --
In this regard, I would like to make one thing clear: the European Commission has always been on the side of Ireland, one could even say, one of your best friends. During the European Union/IMF programme, I personally made the case to other European leaders for lower interest rates and longer maturities on Ireland's loans. I can tell you that sometimes, at least one of the phone calls took about one hour. It was also about Portugal, but I would have done it also just for Ireland.
In this regard, I would like to make one thing clear: the European Commission has always been on the side of Ireland, one could even say, one of your best friends. During the European Union/IMF programme, I personally made the case to other European leaders for lower interest rates and longer maturities on Ireland's loans. I can tell you that sometimes, at least one of the phone calls took about one hour. It was also about Portugal, but I would have done it also just for Ireland.