The weekend brought some political news from the EU. Brian Cowen gave up his leadership of the Fianna Fail Party but vowed to stay on as prime minister. However, the GREEN PARTY, who is the junior partner in the coalition, balked at the uncertainty caused by PM Cowen and pulled their support, which would force the dissolution of Parliament after this week’s vote on important budgetary matters. It is not as significant as it could be for elections were scheduled for March and the ruling party has been expected to suffer a total defeat. The most important outcome is that some of the leadership challenging Cowen within Fianna Fail will lose some precious time to secure their support within the party.