Government insists EU referendum will still go ahead

AS uncertainty over the future of the EU Constitution continues to grow, the Government remains adamant that an Irish referendum will still be held.

Speaking yesterday in the aftermath of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw’s decision to suspend a British referendum, Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern suggested that the EU Constitution could be salvaged by asking the French and Dutch to think again, as the Irish did after they voted down the earlier Nice Treaty.

Mr Ahern said EU leaders should “discuss what could be changed” in the Constitution in order to secure French and Dutch support, without the need for a renegotiation the entire document.