Commission chair: Treaty rejection means no access to ESM

Ireland will not be able to access the European stability mechanism if it fails to ratify the fiscal treaty, the chairman of the Referendum Commission has confirmed.

High Court judge Kevin Feeney said the preamble to the treaty stated clearly that “one of the sources of funding which Ireland is currently availing of will not be available” in the event of a no vote.

“In relation to other sources, the treaty is silent, and whether or not those sources are available is a matter for discussion and debate outside the ambit of this commission,” he added.