The Lisbon treaty - A real test for principle of EU unity

IF TAOISEACH Brian Cowen had been allowed to write his own script he would not be in Brussels today explaining why we rejected the Lisbon treaty.

Neither would he have to try to put some sort of shape on the next phase of our relationship with the European Union; or as some would have it, the EU’s relationship with Ireland.

Neither would he have to consider analysis of what the vote meant, which is more diverse and confusing than the campaign that led to the treaty’s rejection.