Sarkozy Will ‘Probably’ Seek Second Irish Treaty Vote
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Dublin — President Sarkozy of France will “probably” ask Ireland to vote again on the European Union’s new governing treaty Irish voters rejected last month, Mr. Sarkozy’s special adviser, Henri Guaino, said.
A new vote is “one of the possible solutions,” Mr. Guaino said yesterday on France 2 television. The text should be modified to address Irish concerns, he said.
Mr. Sarkozy, whose government holds the rotating E.U. presidency for the rest of the year, is due to visit Dublin on July 21. Ireland’s veto doomed plans to create a new rule book for the 27-nation bloc of 495 million people. The treaty can only take effect once all 27 E.U. countries endorse it.
Ireland’s Foreign minister, Micheal Martin, said on Tuesday the government is examining “all the options,” while the Irish Times reported yesterday that there is “quiet fury” within the government at Mr. Sarkozy’s comments.
“We want to assess” the result of the Lisbon referendum, Prime Minister Cowen of Ireland said in comments broadcast on RTE Radio. “I don’t think we can be definitive at this stage as to what the outcome of those discussions can be.”
The opposition political party that campaigned against the treaty, Sinn Fein, has sought a meeting with Mr. Sarkozy during his visit next week. It described the French president’s comments as “insulting” to the Irish people.
“We have listened to a succession of E.U. leaders lining up to try and bully and coerce us into doing what they want,” a Sinn Fein lawmaker, Aengus O’Snodaigh, said in a statement. “It is important that President Sarkozy understands that the Irish people demand that our vote is respected.”