Lisbon a step to aid economic recovery

JAMES N O’SULLIVAN (Letters, August 17) sees the legal guarantees secured by Ireland at the June European Council as a cynical pretext for another referendum.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The legal guarantees secured at the June European Council respond decisively to the key concerns raised last year about the Lisbon Treaty. These guarantees confirm Ireland will retain control of tax rates, that our neutrality will not be affected by the treaty and that we alone will decide on sensitive ethical issues, such as the protection of the right to life, education and the family. Our EU partners also agreed that these guarantees will later be attached to the EU treaties as a protocol. This will give them the same legal status as the EU treaties themselves.