My predecessors and I attended all 17 of the formal European Council meetings since June 1997. Since I became Minister for Foreign Affairs in January of last year, I have attended 19 meetings of the General Affairs Council. In addition to Intergovernmental Conference ministerial sessions within the GAC format, I also attended nine further meetings of EU Foreign Ministers to negotiate aspects of what became the Nice Treaty.
There have been four occasions when I have been unable to attend, when urgent business has obliged me to be elsewhere. I was represented on these four occasions as follows: The Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Tom Kitt, on 18 September 2000; the Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Deputy Eoin Ryan, on 22 January; the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Hanafin, on 25 June; and the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Tom Kitt on 29 October.
My predecessors and I have also attended all nine of the informal meetings for Foreign Ministers, or Gymnichs, that have taken place since June 1997.