Irish ‘Bad Boys’ Vow to Keep Tax Rate After Sarkozy Spat

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny vowed to defend the country’s tax sovereignty after a “good Gallic spat” over corporate levies with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

At a meeting of euro-area leaders in Brussels on March 11, Kenny, 59, refused to raise the country’s 12.5 percent company tax rate in return for a 1 percent interest rate cut on the aid Europe is providing to Ireland.