Dick springs to mind

Date: 24/10/1996

Now that Irish President Mary Robinson has said she is definitely not in the running for the United Nations' high-flying top job, could that other famous Irish citizen, Foreign Minister Dick Spring, be preparing to have a crack at being the UN's next secretary-general?

Spring himself isn't saying, and his aides point out that he has far too much work in Irish politics to be getting on with to contemplate any international ambitions.

But he's certainly made quite an impact on the rest of the world: at a ministerial meeting with members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which Spring attended in Windhoek, Namibia, earlier this month, rumour has it that the 12 SADC countries were more than a little impressed by the Irish foreign minister's smooth performance.

For the moment, most Africans are still backing Boutros Boutros Ghali for the UN job, despite American President Bill Clinton's clear opposition to his renomination. If the Africans and the Americans continue to bicker about who should get the post, Spring could emerge as the ideal compromise candidate ... even if he is European.