OPPOSITION LEADERS:THE LEADERS of the two main Opposition parties have now said they do not favour another referendum on the Lisbon Treaty with the same wording being put to the people again.
However, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore have not ruled out supporting another referendum if a different proposition is put to the voters.
Mr Kenny said yesterday that ratifying an EU treaty by referendum was always a difficult task and he pointed to the way the constitutional treaty was defeated in referendums in France and the Netherlands.
Commenting on the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty by the Irish voters, he said: "One thing is very clear. The vote is now history and the treaty as put to the Irish people in a question last Thursday cannot be put to them again in that same fashion again."
He suggested that the issues that required a constitutional referendum in Ireland might have been segregated from the treaty as a whole, so that people would have had a clearer idea on precisely the nature of the constitutional change they were being asked to ratify.
Mr Kenny said the issue now was how to face the future in the light of the referendum decision last week. Other European governments must respect the decision of the Irish people, he added, but Ireland also had to respect the right of the other 26 countries to proceed with ratification if that is what they decided to do.
He called on all sides to avoid a knee-jerk reaction and he condemned Sinn Féin for suggesting that there was an issue of Ireland against Europe.
The Fine Gael leader said one of the problems in the campaign was the way the Government had dithered since January and that was compounded by issues such as economic mismanagement and the state of the health service which also played into the outcome.
Mr Kenny said the real crux would come for the Taoiseach if the other 26 countries proceeded with ratification and then came back to ask what Ireland intended to do. He would be going to Brussels on Thursday to brief his colleagues in the European People's Party in advance of the EU summit and he would be urging them to proceed with a degree of understanding and caution with regard to Ireland's position.
In the immediate aftermath of the referendum result on Friday, Mr Gilmore said he strongly believed the Lisbon Treaty was dead and could not be revisited.
"It required 27 member states to ratify it and the Irish people have now declared that they do not want it ratified. I do not think there is any question of the treaty being put a second time to the people." Mr Gilmore pointed out that unlike the first Nice referendum defeat in 2001, the turnout this time had been good.
A Labour Party spokesman said yesterday that the same package could not be put to the people again and it was difficult to see how some kind of different treaty proposition could be devised in its place.