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Ireland backs EU's Lisbon Treaty

Irish voters have strongly endorsed the European Union's Lisbon Treaty - 16 months after their first vote rejecting it plunged EU reforms into deadlock.

About 67% voted "Yes", official results from the latest referendum showed. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen hailed a "clear and resounding" endorsement.

The EU Commission called it a "vote of confidence" in the EU. Nearly all member states have ratified Lisbon.

The treaty is aimed at streamlining decision-making in the 27-nation bloc.

According to final results, 67.1% of Irish voters approved it, while 32.9% voted "No". Turnout in the three-million electorate was 58%.

The treaty cannot take effect until all member states ratify it. The only other countries yet to ratify Lisbon are the Czech Republic and Poland.

The parliaments of both countries have approved the treaty. Polish President Lech Kaczynski is expected to sign it in the coming days.

But the Czech Republic's Eurosceptic President, Vaclav Klaus, said he would not sign the treaty until his country's Constitutional Court had pronounced on its validity.

Speaking after the Irish result, he told the BBC it was "too late" now for the British people to do something about the treaty.

Ireland was the only EU member state to hold a referendum on Lisbon, though there have been calls for referendums in several countries.

"The Irish people have spoken with a clear and resounding voice," Mr Cowen said in a brief statement to reporters. "It is a good day for Ireland and a good day for Europe."

"The Irish people showed an Ireland embracing her future with Europe," he said.

The Irish anti-Lisbon group Coir said on Saturday: "We are extremely disappointed that the voice of the people was not heard the first time around."

EU hails 'victory'

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, called the vote "an important victory for Ireland and for all of Europe".

He said it was just a matter of time until the EU "finally can push the button for the better European co-operation that the Lisbon Treaty will give us".

The European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, praised the Irish "vote of confidence" in the EU, which he said showed a "desire to be a wholehearted member".

Irish opinion is thought to have swung behind the "Yes" vote this time because of the severity of the economic downturn, as well as the legal "guarantees" on Irish sovereignty that the EU pledged after the first referendum.

The legally binding "guarantees" state that Lisbon will not affect key areas of Irish sovereignty, such as taxation, military neutrality and family matters such as abortion - significant issues in last year's campaign in Ireland. But they have not yet been attached to the treaty.

The treaty is intended to make EU institutions better suited to the enlarged bloc of 27.

Opponents see Lisbon as part of a federalist agenda that threatens national sovereignty.

In last year's vote, 46.6% of Irish voted "Yes" and 53.4% "No", and the rejection of the treaty plunged the EU into political gridlock.

All of the republic's major parties campaigned for a "Yes" vote except the nationalist Sinn Fein. The party believes rejecting the treaty would mean a more democratic EU.

sunnyside wrote:Honestly it's the other countries that should be upset at the special treatment Ireland is getting out of this. They get to keep their tax haven status, and gain the leverage of a strong nation without having to poney up the forces, economic or militarily, to support it.

The Article wrote:"The Irish people have spoken with a clear and resounding voice," Mr Cowen said in a brief statement to reporters. "It is a good day for Ireland and a good day for Europe."

Harley Filben wrote:How? There was a referendum and people said yes.

Sionnach Glic wrote:We already had a refferendum on this last year. We said no. The EU and the government bitched at us, then told us to vote again. It was purely due to fearmongering tactics by the government that this bloody thing passed. The EU has made it quite clear they don't give a s**t about democracy any more. Ireland is the only country in all of Europe that got to hold an election, and that was because our constitution says that we must have a referendum on such matters. And when we gave them an answer they didn't like, they told us to do it again.

Tyyr wrote:The EU loathes democracy. They've done everything possible throughout their history to deny the people they want to govern any say in the process.

Harley Filben wrote:EU parliament is open to general elections not to mention that it shares power with European Council which is composed of heads of state of individual countries. It is no more or less democratic than any individual nation.

Furthermore parties within EU member states that openly declare their intent to expand or further integrate the EU regularly win the elections.

Is that sort of thing done when national parliaments of EU members come up with new legislation?

Harley Filben wrote: EU parliament is open to general elections....