Labour disappointed but fully respects decision of the People
Issued : Friday 13 June, 2008
Statement by Eamon Gilmore TD
Leader of the Labour Party, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade
While I am naturally disappointed with the outcome of the referendum on the Lisbon Reform Treaty, I fully respect the decision of the electorate.
The Irish people have now, in a referendum, made their judgement on the Lisbon Treaty. Each individual voter made an individual judgement on the Treaty and that judgement must be fully respected.
The Labour Party campaigned hard for the Treaty because we firmly believed that ratification was in the interests of the people Ireland and of Europe. A majority of the people have taken a different view and we accept that.
I want to thank all the Labour Party members who worked so hard over recent months in our campaign, which started back in December last.
The result means that the EU is now entering an uncertain period. The situation will clearly have to be reviewed by EU Leaders at their summit in Brussels next week. However, it is not clear what action, if any, the summit can take. There can certainly be no question of putting the same Treaty back to another referendum in Ireland.
Those of us who urged a YES vote will need over time to carefully analyse the campaign and the outcome. The Lisbon Reform Treaty was a complex and technical document, because of the nature of the changes it sought to make. Some of the very legalistic language certainly did not help in the interpretation of the Treaty and left its contents open to serious misrepresentation.
We all now need to look at how to reconnect the EU to people, not just in Ireland, but all across Europe and demonstrate to them that it can have a positive impact on their lives by dealing with issues like climate change, the energy crisis, global poverty, job creation and work standards.
