Time to reflect and move on

Posted on June 24, 2008 at 03:28 PM

"The majority of Irish voted choose to reject the Treaty. That decision must be respected," Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore has said.

"We campaigned vigorously for a yes vote, because we believed the treaty was an important step forward in creating a progressive and democratic social Europe.

"The Irish vote must be seen as reflective not just of an Irish problem but a broader failure of the European Union to win the hearts and the minds of people of Europe.

"We must be given an opportunity to reflect on the outcome. It will take time to understand what the real concerns are and how they can be addressed. I do not pretend to have all the answers today; we do need a period of reflection."

You can see more of what Eamon told the Dáil in the accompanying video.

We would like to take this opportunity thank everyone who worked on the campaign from distributing leaflets, to putting up posters and canvassing, whatever your level of participation it is appreciated.

We would also like to thank those of you who took the time to comment on our Lisbon blog, on You Tube and on Flickr providing some lively debates.

Tagged with Foreign & European Affairs • Lisbonreformtreaty