Govt accused of failing to respect Lisbon vote

A long-running opponent of the direction of the EU has accused the Government of failing to respect the outcome of the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

Anthony Coughlan, the head of the National Platform, was speaking this morning before the Oireachtas committee examining the fallout from the vote.

He said the Government was failing to abide by the result and should have told other EU member states that the treaty cannot be implemented because the Irish people have rejected it.

Meanwhile, Sweden has become the 25th EU member state to ratify the treaty following a vote in the country's parliament last night.