IRISH VOTERS have rejected the Lisbon Treaty by a decisive margin. The result is a stunning setback for the Government and it has provoked a crisis in the European Union.
The treaty was defeated by a margin of 53.4 per cent to 46.6 per cent, with 752,451 people voting Yes and 862,415 voting No. The turnout of 53 per cent was higher than in either of the Nice referendums.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen said he respected the result but described it as "source of disappointment" to himself and his Government colleagues.
"It is our duty now to reflect on the implications of this vote for Ireland so that we can move forward and keep this country on the path of progress," he said.
"As Taoiseach, I will be devoting my full political energies to finding a way forward for our country which needs to take into account the concerns reflected by the referendum result," said Mr Cowen.
When asked what would happen next, Mr Cowen refused to rule another referendum in or out until all options had been considered.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore, however, said he believed the treaty was dead and could not be revisited. "I do not think there is any question of treaty being put a second time to the people," he said.
The European Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, insisted that the treaty was still alive and he urged other EU states to continue to ratify it, despite the Irish No vote.
He said Mr Cowen had told him in a telephone call that the referendum result was clear but that he also believed the treaty was not yet dead.
Mr Barroso said he also believed the treaty "is alive and we should now try to find a solution". He noted that 18 of the 27 EU member states had ratified it.
He said Mr Cowen would be invited to present his views on the referendum result and how best to move forward at next week's EU summit in Brussels.
The reaction from the EU's leading politicians was restrained. The German government promised yesterday to give Mr Cowen time to reflect, but senior sources warned that it saw little alternative to a second referendum.
"We would have wished for another solution but as good Europeans we have to take the situation as it is," said German chancellor Angela Merkel after a conversation with the Taoiseach yesterday.
"Ratification will continue and either Ireland votes again or we try to come up with a new text, something on which 27 countries will simply not be able to agree," said a senior government source.
In a joint statement last night, Dr Merkel and French president Nicolas Sarkozy said: "With all due respect, we take note of the democratic decision of the Irish citizens, even if we regret it."
Sources close to Mr Sarkozy said there were only two solutions: for the Irish to vote again, or for an as yet undefined legal mechanism to bind Ireland to EU institutions if Ireland does not ratify the treaty.
While Dr Merkel was conciliatory, her coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD), were more blunt. The party's foreign minister, Frank Walter Steinmeier, said the result was a "severe setback" while a party colleague called it a "catastrophe".
"With all respect for the Irish vote, we cannot allow the huge majority of Europe to be duped by a minority of a minority of a minority," said Axel Schäfer, SPD leader in the Bundestag committee on EU affairs.
"We are incredibly disappointed. We think it is a real cheek that the country that has benefited most from the EU should do this. There is no other Europe than this treaty."
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano was equally critical, calling for states obstructing integration to be left out of the EU. "Now is the time for a courageous choice by those who want coherent progress in building Europe, leaving out those who despite solemn, signed pledges threaten to block it," he said in a statement.
The Croatian president, Stipe Mesic, expressed disappointment in Ireland. "Now that they have used the accession and structural funds, when they have developed enormously, I'm a little surprised that the solidarity is at an end," said Mr Mesic.
One of the leaders of the No campaign, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, said the Taoiseach now had to go back and renegotiate. Ireland was "the only state that allowed a referendum and that's to our credit", he said.
No campaigner Patricia McKenna described it as "a great day for the citizen, the voice of the people". The founder of Libertas, Declan Ganley, insisted the No vote did not represent a Eurosceptic message. "It is a pro-European message," he said.