Cowen meets Sarkozy for talks on Lisbon Treaty

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has met French president Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris to discuss on the future of the Lisbon Treaty.

Mr Sarkozy and the Taoiseach spent about an hour at the lunch meeting in the Elysée Palace.

Asked by reporters afterwards if he was more optimistic than before on the Lisbon Treaty, Mr Cowen said he was more hopeful and optimistic than he was yesterday.

He refused to be drawn on whether there would be a second referendum on the treaty, which was defeated by the Irish electorate in June.

Repeating remarks yesterday after a meeting with British prime minister Gordon Brown, said it was still very much a work in progress.

After the lunch meeting at the Elysée Palace, the Taoiseach travelled to Brussels for discussions with European Commission president José Manuel Barroso.

Mr Cowen said yesterday following his meeting with Mr Brown at Downing Street he was hopeful next week's European Council meeting will help him identify the "road map" to enable a second Irish referendum on the treaty.

The Taoiseach met German chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Wednesday.

With further meetings of officials scheduled ahead of next week's summit, Mr Cowen insisted: "These discussions are ongoing . . . Until conclusions are actually drafted for that [summit] meeting we can't know whether we're going to get there or not. I remain hopeful."