Roche not in favour of rushing Lisbon

The Minister for European Affairs, Dick Roche, has said it would be unwise to rush into a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in the next few weeks.

Fine Gael MEP Colm Burke wants a new vote on Lisbon to be held in April, claiming our rejection of the Treaty is damaging Ireland given our current financial problems.

Mr Roche said he agrees that we need to reaffirm our commitment to Europe as soon as possible.

However, he claimed a number of issues must be sorted out first, to ensure that Irish voters are more positive this time around.