Gothenburg, 15/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - Ireland, sustainable development and the new Italian government were the main issues, on Wednesday afternoon, of a summit of heads of government and social democrat parties where discussions were quite general and the agenda upset by delays and comings and goings due to the complete saturation of the town of Gothenburg. The final press conference was even cancelled, because of these logistic problems, but the president of the European Socialist Party, Robin Cook, sketched out the main lines of the meeting for several journalists. The former Foreign Minister for Great Britain said the meeting was a very good one, attended by eight heads of government. Discussions began with a report by the leader of the Irish Labour party, Ruaira Quinn, on the result of the referendum on the Treaty of Nice. Mr Cook said an agreement was reached on the fact that the decision of the Irish people should be respected, but also that they should continue to work together to find a way forward. The European Socialists did not apparently enter into greater detail about what method should be followed. The conclusions of the European Council should have the same content, stressed observers after the meeting. Then, the Summit applauded the results of the elections in the United Kingdom, before hearing a presentation by the Swedish Prime Minister, then by Commissioner Margot Wallström on sustainable development. The European socialists should pursue their discussions on this theme, to adopt a common position for the Rio Summit + 10 next year. The summit of European Socialists tackled the question of climate change, to stress that Europe should continue to make the Kyoto Protocol move forward. Finally, the former president of the Italian Council, Giuliano Amato, spoke of the new Italian government. Participants stressed that "the other Member States should encourage the Italian government to remain firmly committed to Europe".