Dubli, October 04: Ireland voted decisively to endorse the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, overturning a No vote in a previous referendum, as leaders Saturday hailed a key step towards ending the 27-nation bloc’s deadlock.
More than two-thirds of voters approved the treaty, which is designed to streamline decision-making in a European Union which has expanded eastwards since 2004.
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen called it “a good day for Ireland and… a good day for Europe”.
“Today the Irish people have spoken with a clear and resounding voice,” he said.
In Brussels, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso thanked Ireland “for this sign of confidence,” saying it showed that the EU “was ready to listen” to the misgivings which led to last year’s No vote.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the result cleared the way for the EU to move forward on issues such as the economy, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was “an important step” towards implementing the treaty.
Official results showed 67.13 percent in favour compared to 32.87 percent opposed, with turnout of 59 percent.
In a first referendum in June 2008, Irish voters had stunned the EU by rejecting the reform treaty by 53 percent.
The treaty must be ratified by all EU members to come into force.
A second No vote would have effectively killed the treaty, which notably creates a new full-time president and foreign minister for the 27-nation EU, home to some 500 million people.
But in Friday’s poll, held against the backdrop of an economy in deep recession, it was backed by 41 of Ireland’s 43 constituencies.
The No camp conceded defeat long before official results were published in Ireland, the only EU country constitutionally obliged to put the treaty to a referendum.
“The Irish people have asserted their trust in the political establishment of this country who have promised them jobs for a Yes vote and economic recovery,” said Declan Ganley, who led the victorious No campaign last year.
Dublin agreed to hold another referendum after securing guarantees on key policy areas which it felt were behind last year’s rejection, such as its military neutrality, abortion and tax laws.
Concerns that voters would use the poll to punish Cowen’s increasingly unpopular government over the spectacular collapse of Ireland’s long-booming economy proved unfounded.
Even with the Irish Yes vote, further obstacles remain: while 25 EU states have now formally backed the Lisbon Treaty, Poland and the Czech Republic have yet to ratify it.
In Prague on Friday, the Czech constitutional court ordered President Vaclav Klaus — who in any case is a fierce opponent of the treaty — to hold off signing it into force.
The Irish result is also being closely watched in Britain where opposition leader David Cameron, tipped to win elections due by next June, has pledged to hold a referendum if he takes power and Lisbon has not yet been ratified.
Cameron, who heads the centre-right Conservatives, said that if a referendum is held, “I would ask the British people to vote No to that treaty”.
But Sweden, the current holder of the rotating EU presidency, said the bloc wanted the final ratifications cleared up so that the treaty could enter into force by the end of the year.
British premier Brown said the Irish approval cleared the way for the bloc “to focus on the issues that matter most to Europeans — a sustained economic recovery, security, tackling global poverty, and action on climate change”.
The result was also welcomed in the Balkans, where EU membership candidates including Serbia had feared a second Irish No would torpedo their chances of ever joining the bloc.
The Yes vote “has opened doors to Europe that will have space for all European nations, including those from the western Balkans,” Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told Beta news agency.
There have been suggestions in the European Parliament that former British prime minister Tony Blair could be given the job of EU president which would be created if the Lisbon Treaty is implemented.
–Agencies