Poor Libertas Interns

If there is one thing guaranteed to bore the cotton socks off anyone at the moment, it is the mere mention of the Lisbon Treaty - but bear with me!

Workers rights was one of the main issues of contention last June when the Irish turned remarkably frosty towards anything European.

But Declan Ganley's anti-treaty group Libertas really are taking the biscuit when it comes to workers rights - it is looking for interns but is only prepared to pay them a misery €700 a month while they live in Brussels.

Ganley's Libertas is building a European army of interns ahead of this summer's European elections.

And as part of its plan for world domination, it will be taking on interns and full-time staff across Europe.

In their online advertisement they are looking to hire 'highly-qualified and talented students for a period of five months in Brussels'.

But let's look at this more closely. Considering the intern will work at least eight hours a day for five days a week, that gives a working week of 40 hours. With four weeks in a month, that gives the sum total of 160 hours a month.

With a pay packet of €700 a month, that gives an hourly rate of just €4.30 - far, far less than the Minimum Wage.

Students, be warned!