Friday, September 4, 2009

Ah, that's better.

Seems that the Irish may just be waking up to what's in store for them should the EU come out on top in the referendum (mark 2)


The Irish government faces a tough battle to get the EU's Lisbon Treaty ratified in a referendum next month, the country's foreign minister says.

Micheal Martin was speaking after a new opinion poll suggested a drop in support for the treaty.

"I was never under any illusion but that it would be difficult to secure this, but I do think we can do it," Mr Martin said on Ireland's RTE radio.

The treaty was rejected in a referendum in the Republic of Ireland last year.

Ireland is the only one of the EU's 27 member states to put the treaty to a referendum. The complex document, drawn up after years of negotiation, is aimed at streamlining EU institutions.

An Irish Times/TNS opinion poll published on Friday showed 46% of respondents would vote Yes - an eight-point fall since the last such poll in May.

Opposition to the treaty stood at 29% - a one-point rise.

The figure for "Don't Knows" was 25% - a seven-point jump. The poll sampled 1,000 voters nationwide earlier this week.

Hopefully the don't knows will err on the side of caution and vote no. But there's no guarantee of this yet, but I'm living in hope.
It wont be the end of things should the Irish vote yes of course, Political betting has a few other scenarios laid out. But it would kill Lisbon dead if the Irish were to vote no.

1 annotations:

James Higham said...

The Irish government faces a tough battle to get the EU's Lisbon Treaty ratified in a referendum next month, the country's foreign minister says.

Micheal Martin was speaking after a new opinion poll suggested a drop in support for the treaty.

Hey, that's just great. I was thinking twere the other way about.