It's a measure of the characters surrounding Taoiseach in Europe (4)
I believe the answer is:
tape
'it's a measure' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tape that I've seen before include "Binder" , "Video recording" , "Breast this first to win a race" , "Breast this first to win foot-race" , "Record - broken by the winner" .)