Behind the scenes dealings secured deal on Lisbon

IT took over 60 meetings, countless phone calls and months of careful planning, but Ireland eventually secured the full list of demands it made in return for re-running the Lisbon treaty referendum.

The final 24 hours were, as expected, the most crucial, as there was always a danger of snatching failure from the jaws of victory at this summit of EU leaders.

The wording of the guarantees had been crafted over the past few weeks by Irish officials, who checked and cross checked them with the various players on the EU stage.