TAOISEACH ENDA KENNY is in Rome today where he will meet with the new Italian prime minister Enrico Letta.

In what will be the first bilateral meeting between the two leaders discussions are expected to focus on Ireland’s presidency of the European Union – which has less than a month to go – and the economic situation both here and in Italy.

Italy has been mired in economic and political crisis for much of the past two years. Letta, a moderate left winger, became prime minister in April, ending a two-month deadlock on forming a new government in Italy.

Letta, a pro-European who drove to his nomination meeting in his own Fiat minivan, has previously said that he would “strongly commit to a change of course for European policies too focused on austerity, which is no longer enough”.

The Taoiseach as been travelling extensively over the past seven days having been in Lithuania, Latvia, Finland and London.

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