TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen told EU leaders that “however frustrating for them, it is simply too early to know how to move forward at this point”, the Dáil heard.
During a debate on last week’s EU Council meeting following Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, Mr Cowen told the Dáil he had underlined to EU leaders “that we must not prejudge how this dilemma might be resolved”.
He said he intended to proceed in very close consultation with EU partners and “working closely with the incoming presidency will be central” to the consultation with partners.
“During the meeting, President Sarkozy and I agreed that he would come to Dublin on July 11th, at the start of the French presidency for intensive discussions,” he said. Any “potential way forward must be acceptable not just to Ireland, but also to every other EU member state”.
Mr Cowen stressed he “made clear in the run up to and during the council that our ratification procedure and vote would need to be respected, just as we would respect the procedures and decisions of others”.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny warned that “if there is to be a re-run of this in some format the Taoiseach should not expect a blank cheque of support”. Fine Gael would “always support the European process but I would like us to be at least kept informed of . . . what is happening,” Mr Kenny said.
The Fine Gael leader also warned: “If this runs to the European elections, very aggressive people on the right and left of the political spectrum in other European countries, wanting to interfere with this, may turn the elections into a referendum on Lisbon.”
Mr Kenny suggested that the Attorney General should give his legal opinion “as to which elements of the Lisbon Treaty require a constitutional referendum in their own right”.
A number of complications need to be clarified, he said. “It might be helpful in that the Government could not just isolate them, but deal with them individually so people who have had a range of difficulties . . . would understand exactly where they come from.”
Fine Gael spokeswoman on European affairs Lucinda Creighton noted the Taoiseach “made no reference whatsoever to any of the domestic issues that were at play in regard to the Lisbon Treaty referendum, primarily the lack of trust in politicians as a direct result of the tribunals”.
She also said “immigration is becoming an increasingly bigger issue and clearly led to a socioeconomic divide in how people voted”.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore warned that it would be “entirely wrong, inappropriate and counterproductive for the EU to proceed on the basis of any settlement that does not fully respect the voice of the Irish people”.
The EU was “a community of member states founded on the principles of democracy, and it would cause itself untold damage if it were to attempt in some way to sidestep the verdict of the Irish people”.
He added: “That is particularly true since Ireland is one of the smaller member states of the Union. Again, the institutional settlement reached in Lisbon would be deeply undermined if the wishes of a small member state were not to be treated in the same way as those of a large member state. Solidarity is, of course, a two-way street. There is also an onus on us to find a way forward.”
