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Times OnlineJune 13, 2008

EU in turmoil as Ireland votes No to Lisbon Treaty

David Sharrock in Dublin, Philippe Naughton and David Byers


The future of the European Union was tonight clouded in uncertainty after Ireland voted No to the Lisbon Treaty.

Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commission President, and a raft of foreign ministers expressed dismay that Ireland - the only member state to hold a referendum on the matter - chose to reject it decisively by 53.4 per cent to 46.6 per cent.

Amid wild cheers from No campaigners, the results were revealed at 5pm as being 862,415 against and 752,451 in favour, meaning a majority of 109,964 for those rejecting the treaty.

Despite the result, EU leaders were tonight vowing to press ahead with ratifying the treaty across all members' parliaments.

Blog: Comment Central - what Lisbon failure means for Cameron
However, the Lisbon Treaty, the reworked successor to the formal constitutional pact dumped by voters in France and the Netherlands in 2005, officially needs the approval of all 27 EU member states, meaning the way forward is now clouded in uncertainty.

Despite the vote, Mr Barroso said he believed Ireland was still "committed" to the EU.

"The no vote in Ireland has not solved the problems which the Lisbon Treaty is designed to solve," he said.

"The ratification process is made up of 27 national processes. Eighteen member states have already approved the treaty and the European Commission believes that the remaining ratifications should continue to take their course."

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German Foreign Minister, backed Mr Barroso, although he described it as a "severe setback".

"The ratification process must continue," Mr Steinmeier said in a statement released during a visit to China.

"I am still convinced that we need this treaty - a treaty that makes Europe more democratic, more capable of acting and more transparent."

However, in a television interview last night, Francois Fillon, French Prime Minister, was clear about the effects of a No vote. "If the Irish people decide to reject the treaty of Lisbon, naturally, there will be no treaty of Lisbon," he warned.

Commentators said that the results were a personal disaster for Brian Cowen, the newly appointed Irish Prime Minister, who has struggled to rally the Yes vote following a surprise last-minute surge in opinion poll support for the 'no' campaign in the past week.

The final turnout figure was believed to have been low - a factor believed to have helped the No campaign, since their supporters were more committed and likely to cast their ballots.

Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty leaves the EU facing a new crisis like that which followed the 2005 rejection of the formal constitution. It also means that three million voters have effectively decided the fate of a bloc of almost 500 million people.

Ireland has caused upsets in EU referendums before. In 2001, its voters rejected the Nice Treaty, a result overturned in a second poll the following year.


Blog: Comment Central - what Lisbon failure means for Cameron

Backers of the treaty, which aims to make EU decision-making more efficient, struggled to get their message across, despite a campaign backed by all bar one of the main political parties.

Opponents rallied support for the No campaign around claims including that the treaty threatens sensitive Irish policies like the ban on abortion, low corporation tax and military neutrality.

Elsewhere in Europe there has been some bemusement that a country which owes its economic success - as the Celtic Tiger of the 1990s - largely to massive European Union investment should reject closer European ties.

Libertas, a group run by the businessman Declan Ganley and the Sinn Fein party, led by Gerry Adams, were among the most prominent 'no' campaigners.

Mr Ganley said today: "The Irish people should never have been taken for granted. In their enormous wisdom they have taken on board the treaty, looked at the arguments and, it seems that we have returned the same result again that our fellow Europeans in France and the Netherlands have already sent to the unelected Brussels elite."

He added: "In fairnesss to Mr Cowen and the Yes side they did everything they could - including some off-the-ball tackles - to get the result that Brussels wanted, so nobody should criticised him from there.

"But what this does is to give Mr Cowen a mandate to go back to Brussels and build a better deal. I have faith in him that he will do that."

In a sign of the passions aroused by the issue, Brian Lenihan, the Finance Minister, had to be escorted from Dublin's main counting station when No campaigners attempted to drown him out and scuffles broke out. "As you know from Eastern Europe when the Far Right and the Far Left take over free speech disappears very fast," he said.

Mr Lenihan told The Times: "The trend is not favourable. I am disappointed with the result. Clearly Ireland is not in a position to ratify the treaty. We will await the reaction of other member states.







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