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Ireland rejects EU treaty, plunges bloc into crisis

DUBLIN: Irish voters dealt a stunning blow to Europe's grand reform plans on Friday by rejecting a new European Union (EU) treaty, plunging the bloc into a fresh period of institutional crisis.

The Lisbon Treaty, designed to replace the EU constitution after French and Dutch voters rejected it three years ago, was rejected by 53.4 percent to 46.6 percent in a referendum, according to official figures cited by the RTE state broadcaster. Even before final results had been confirmed, the European Commission insisted that the treaty was still "alive", adding that EU leaders would discuss the crisis with Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen at an EU summit next week.

"The European Commission believes that the remaining ratifications should continue to take their course," the EU executive's chief Jose Manuel Barroso said in Brussels. He added that he had spoken to Cowen, adding that the Irish premier "also believed the treaty is not dead, the treaty is alive ... He was clear that this vote should not be seen as a vote against the EU".

But Irish "no" campaigners insisted the referendum result was definitive, since every member of the 27-nation EU has to ratify the treaty. "The Lisbon treaty is finished," said Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, whose Republican movement was the only one in parliament to campaign against the EU treaty. afp

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