Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has pledged to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in the first week of October after securing legal guarantees from EU leaders.

At a summit in Brussels, he told journalists the concerns of the Irish people had been addressed because its guarantees on taxation, neutrality and ethical issues would be incorporated into the EU treaties.

He said he wanted to consult his Cabinet colleagues next week and bring the necessary legislation before the Dáil before announcing the exact date of the referendum.

“We came here with two aims. Ireland wanted firm legal guarantees. We got them. We wanted a commitment to a protocol. We got that,” said Mr Cowen, who added that he did not contemplate defeat in the referendum.

European Commission president José Manuel Barroso, who won political backing from EU leaders for a second term at the two-day summit, said he thought the Irish public would now back the treaty in an autumn referendum. “This gives me confidence we will have a Yes vote in Ireland . . . the Irish Government got everything it was asking from colleagues,” he said.

Ireland initially faced opposition from several EU states to its request for a protocol, which would ensure its guarantees will be incorporated into the treaties. Britain, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia all raised concerns that granting a protocol could reopen the debate on the treaty because it would have to be ratified through all 27 EU national parliaments.

Mr Cowen took part in a series of bilateral negotiations with British prime minister Gordon Brown at the summit in an effort to alleviate his concerns that the Irish guarantees could change the Lisbon Treaty.