Irish voters have rejected the European Union’s Lisbon treaty, putting plans to overhaul the bloc’s institutions in peril and humiliating Ireland’s political leaders.
Justice Minister Dermot Ahern conceded the vote shortly after midday on Friday as tallies from around the country showed the treaty had been defeated in an overwhelming number of constituencies.
“It looks like this will be a ‘No’ vote,” Mr. Ahern told RTE television. “At the end of the day for a myriad of reasons the people have spoken.”
The Lisbon treaty was itself an effort to resurrect EU reforms that were torpedoed by French and Dutch voters in 2005.
This time Ireland was only country to entrust its voters with a referendum. The “No” vote means a country with fewer than 1 percent of the EU’s 490 million population could doom a treaty painstakingly negotiated by all 27 member states.
The Lisbon treaty envisages a long-term president of the European Council of EU leaders, a stronger foreign policy chief and a mutual defence pact. Fourteen countries have already ratified the treaty in their national parliaments.
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It wasn’t the first time Irish voters have shocked the EU. They almost wrecked the bloc’s plans for eastward expansion in 2001 by rejecting the Nice treaty, but the government staged a second referendum in which that pact passed. The government has said it is not considering a re-run this time around.
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Seriously? The liberal “democrats” aren’t going to have new referenda and recounts until they actually win? Where did Al Gore go?
The Irish do a great thing, defeat the Lisbon Treaty, and you propose something absurd like Al Gore for President of Ireland? What are you thinking?
We should all be very happy and pleased that the Irish voted NO as they did. There was intense pressure from the EU elites to vote yes, so that the EU steamroller could move smoothly on its way. This is a major victory for individual freedom. It does not mean that the EU leadership will take it lying down, and they will certainly find a way to work around it. It does show once again, however, that whenever people have been allowed to express themselves on this issue, they are alway opposed to the loss of sovereignty.
Al Gore is a buffoon, a joke, a caricature, and it is an insult to propose him to lead any country. Please, let is thank the Irish and not insult them at this time.
“The Irish do a great thing, defeat the Lisbon Treaty, and you propose something absurd like Al Gore for President of Ireland? What are you thinking?”
Actually I was mocking EUrocrats for having follow up a referendum last time the Irish defeated an EU treaty.
Even this new treaty is nothing more than a re-worded old EU Constitution under a new name.
So they are acting just like Al Gore who demanded that we use different methods of recounting until one of those methods finally made him the President.
Yes, the Irish have made a symbolic gesture. For this, they can thank their constitution which cannot be amended in any significant respect without a referendum.
The reason I say a “symbolic gesture” isn’t to disparage or belittle the Irish “No”, but to draw attention to the fact that none of the other EU countries will consult public opinion about the Lisbon Treaty. The EUrocrats intend to ratify regardless and so Ireland’s brave resistance will be in vain.