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Fri 12 Dec 2008Cowen confirms new Lisbon referendum after EU deal
Taoiseach Brian Cowen has confirmed he is going to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon treaty after the Government secured the legal guarantees it had requested over ethical issues, taxation, neutrality and the retention of a commissioner.
The deal was finalised at a European summit in Brussels today. However, the Government appears to have dropped its request to secure legally binding guarantees on workers rights in a new protocol that it will now seek to negotiate with its EU partners over coming months.
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