French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner said he will not pressure the Government to hold a second vote on Lisbon Treaty, seeking to quell a controversy stoked by President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Mr Kouchner will join Mr Sarkozy in Ireland on Monday after voters here last month rejected the Lisbon Treaty, which is aimed at streamlining decision-making across the 27-nation bloc.
“I don't plan to persuade them to vote again. The goal of this trip is to listen to the Irish people,'' Mr Kouchner told reporters in Paris today. The important thing is not to teach them lessons."
The Government should hold a new referendum on the treaty, Mr Sarkozy told French lawmakers, Agence France-Presse reported on Wednesday.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen said last month there was “no quick fix'' to the impasse created by the rejection of the treaty, which must be ratified by all EU members before taking effect.
“You can't hide behind your little finger,'' said Mr Kouchner today.
“At some point, but not during this trip, there will be a need to choose between the Lisbon treaty and the Nice treaty,” he said.
Meanwhile the leader of the Labour Party Eamon Gilmore has declined an invitation to participate in a meeting with Mr Sarkozy on Monday, saying the format of the proposed meeting was “pointless” and that it was likely to become a “re-enactment of the Lisbon debate”.
Mr Gilmore said he had been informed that 15 or 16 organisations would attend and that the one-hour meeting would be arranged on a round-table basis.
"It is unclear what, if anything, such a meeting could actually achieve. The time allowed would not permit any real engagement on the issues. In all probability such a meeting would probably become a re-enactment of the Lisbon debate. That debate is over and the referendum has delivered a result," he said.
Mr Gilmore said the format proposed was not one that could elicit the diverse views of the Irish public on the matter.
"Ireland has a responsibility to contribute to the solution to the present impasse, but this is a European problem as well as an Irish one. In this context, and as President of the European Council, Mr Sarkozy is welcome to Ireland and I wish his visit well.”
Mr Gilmore earlier said that after Ireland had thrown up a road-block to a new treaty, Europe’s leaders would be unwise to go around it.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said the Taoiseach should make it clear that there will be no re-run of the Lisbon Treaty referendum.
Speaking in Dublin this morning, Mr Adams said Mr Cowen needs to set out in clear and unambiguous terms the need for a new treaty.
"The fact is that under EU law the Lisbon Treaty cannot proceed. And unlike France and the Netherlands a referendum is required in this state, for any new treaty. The challenge for the Irish Government is to go and build support for a better deal and a new treaty," he said.
The French president's visit to Dublin, which will include a private meeting with Yes and No Lisbon campaigners, has been cut to just four hours.
Final arrangements for the trip were being put in place by Irish and French officials last night. Mr Sarkozy is expected to meet political figures from all parties and leaders of lobby organisations including the president of the Irish Farmers Association Padraig Walshe at the French embassy.
Additonal reporting Bloomberg