Diplomats work to resolve treaty guarantee hitches

DIPLOMATS and legal experts were working through the night to resolve last-minute hitches in Ireland’s securing treaty status for its Lisbon guarantees.

The issue was due to be the first item on the agenda at the two-day summit that begun in Brussels yesterday evening. However, it was quickly taken off the table when it became clear that the British and a number of other countries still had issues with it.

Officials said the problem was complex because Britain was linking it to an agreement on regulation of the financial services industry.