MEPs request that Ireland hold a second Lisbon referendum in spring

MEMBERS of the European Parliament were divided over whether to encourage Ireland to ratify the Lisbon treaty in time for next June’s elections.

In the end, they asked that the Irish Government put forward concrete proposals in December and hold a second referendum in the spring.

“There is no plausible reason why a second referendum in Ireland should be easier to win after the European Parliament elections than before,” says the report agreed by the Constitutional Affairs Committee.

It added that the Lisbon treaty, if ratified, would provide the European Union with more effective tools to face the current financial and energy crises.

But the two Irish MEPs who attended the meeting were less than happy with the outcome and said they saw it as putting pressure on the Irish people.

Fianna Fáil MEP Brian Crowley said he voted against the proposal. “You cannot set down a time line for this,” he said. He, the Northern Ireland DUP member, Jim Allister and Independent MEP Kathy Sinnott, were among the six that voted against.

Ms Sinnott said she believed MEPs were panicking because they want Lisbon in place for the June elections.

“I voted against it because I consider it was a very clear interference and not helpful to anybody”, she said.

However, British Liberal MEP Andrew Duff was one of the 16 committee members who supported the motion.

“We were anxious to draw to the full appreciation of the Irish public the seriousness of the consequences of their declining to change their mind if this goes to a second vote.

“We have tried very sensitively and in a very limited fashion to express ourselves firmly but politely and without being thought of as bullying,” Mr Duff said.

He added that it was entirely a matter for Ireland to decide to hold a second referendum but it was important for the Parliament to point out the complications caused by delaying a decision.

Mr Duff said that as politicians they were all aware that with the popularity of Fianna Fáil and the Taoiseach being particularly low at the moment the Government might not want to postpone a second vote until October.

“If that is the case then that is the pill we will have to swallow,” he said.

If the treaty is not ratified before the elections, then this would affect the composition of the new parliament and commission, the appointment of the union’s foreign policy head and the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The committee also urged Sweden to proceed with its ratification, due to happen later this week, and also urged the Czechs to do likewise. Mr Duff said that if the Czechs have not done so by the time they take over the presidency of the EU in January, it would leave them in a difficult position having to deal with the Irish issue.

The motion will come before the full parliament for a vote in December.