Minister: No EU ‘yes’ vote without debt deal

A HIGH-STAKES diplomatic poker game between Dublin and the EU began last night as a minister warned Ireland needed a better bailout deal if it was to pass another referendum on Europe.

Junior Finance Minister Brian Hayes insisted the country would need a “significant reduction” in its debt burden before voters would endorse the new EU fiscal union in any poll.

“The idea that we could have a referendum without that agreement, on a substantial rearranging of our debt, wouldn’t fly,” he said.