In a dramatic political U-turn, Ireland has voted decisively in favour of the Lisbon treaty just 16 months after it first rejected the European Union reform plan.
With counting continuing this evening it was expected that 64% of those who voted in Friday’s referendum would have backed the treaty.
The outcome was lauded by the Irish taoiseach, Brian Cowen, who said it pointed the way towards rapid improvement in the European Union’s effectiveness and Ireland’s economic recovery.
“Today the Irish people have spoken with a clear and resounding voice. It’s a good day for Ireland and a good day for Europe,” Cowen declared.
He said the treaty would deliver “a stronger, fairer and better Europe”.
He has thanked EU chiefs for offering Ireland generous assurances, with the EU president, José Manuel Barroso, describing the result as “a great day for Europe, a great day for Ireland”.
Overall the yes vote was up by around 20% across the Republic. In June 2008 only 10 out of Ireland’s 43 parliamentary constituencies voted in favour of Lisbon. By contrast in this referendum 41 constituencies have voted to endorse Lisbon.
Irish opponents of Lisbon challenged David Cameron to give the British people a referendum on the EU’s future if his party takes power next year.
Richard Green, a leading figure in the anti-Lisbon Coir movement, issued a direct public appeal to the Conservative leader to hold a referendum on Europe in the next British parliament.
Speaking at the main Dublin count in the RDS conference centre, Green told the Observer that the onus was now on Cameron to halt what he and other Irish no campaigners saw as the drive towards an EU superstate.
“The British people were never colonised so they will not be bullied. The first priority of a new British prime minister should be to fulfill the broken promises of successive British governments and give the British people that referendum,” he said.
Arriving at Dublin Castle where the overall result was declared, the Ukip MEP and leading Eurosceptic Nigel Farage described the result as “a victory for big money, a victory for thuggery and a travesty of democracy”.
He endorsed Green’s challenge to Cameron and the Tories to hold a referendum on Britain’s future in Europe.
“There is a widespread expectation that a Conservative party that is 20% ahead in the polls will give us a referendum. It appeared over the last couple of days as it became clear that there was going to be a yes vote in Ireland that Mr Cameron and Mr [William] Hague [shadow foreign secretary] were beginning to weasel out of that. I would say that is not good enough because it can’t be right just to have the Irish voting on the future of British democracy as well as their own. So I am going to be campaigning like hell for there to be a referendum.”
As votes were counted across Ireland from 9am it became apparent that even in areas where there had been a strong no vote last year or where parties opposed to the Lisbon treaty had electoral support, the electorate had clearly shifted towards the yes campaign.
In the Cavan/Monaghan constituency, the stronghold of Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghin O’Caolain, voters in the border region were backing Lisbon by 61%. Sinn Féin was the only party in the Dáil to call for the treaty’s rejection. Both the local outcome in Cavan/Monaghan and the overall national result will be seen as yet another setback for Sinn Féin in the Republic.
The first constituency in Ireland to declare an official result was Tipperary South which voted yes by a margin of 68,42%. In the first referendum, 53,21% of the electorate voted no.
All of the six Dublin constituencies were set to endorse the treaty, including Dublin South West where in June 2008 a majority rejected it. Voters in Dublin South West backed the treaty this time by around 60%.
The result will also be a boost to the embattled Cowen, who became Irish leader in May 2008, just one month before the country rejected Lisbon in the first referendum. Since then his government’s popularity has plunged to an historic low in the opinion polls due to the recession, the country’s banking crisis and rising unemployment.
Both the yes and the no camps agreed that the key factor in turning the Irish electorate around this time was the parlous state of the economy. The two ruling parties, Fianna Fail and the Greens, alongside the main opposition parties warned throughout the campaign that a second no vote would isolate Ireland in the EU and endanger a European Central Bank-funded rescue plan for the Irish banking system as well as the overall economy. – guardian.co.uk