Irish European Constitution referendum

The Irish referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was expected to take place in 2005 or 2006 to decide whether Ireland should ratify the proposed Constitution of the European Union. Following the rejection of the Constitution by voters in France in May 2005 and in the Netherlands in June 2005, the referendum was postponed indefinitely.

The government of Ireland had signed the "Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe" on 29 October 2004. However the ratification of major EU treaties, starting with the Single European Act of 1986, require amending Article 29 of the Constitution of Ireland, which prescribes the extent to which Irish law can be superseded by other laws, including EU law. Amendments to the Constitution of Ireland can only be approved by referendum.

A TNS/MRBI Irish Times opinion poll on 14 June 2005 showed that while 45% of voters wished to see a referendum, only 30% would vote "yes" in the constitutional referendum, with 35% voting "no" and 35% unsure. [cite news
url=http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/frontpage/2005/0614/1118359085633.html
title=Majority would reject treaty in EU poll
work=The Irish Times
date=2005-06-14]

The then government parties of Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrat were in favour of a yes vote. Fine Gael, the main opposition party was also in favour of a yes vote. The Labour Party, like the French Socialist Party, was divided, with its parliamentary leadership supporting ratification but its youth wing calling for a rejection. The other left-wing parties were calling for a no vote, including Sinn Féin, the Socialist Party and the Socialist Workers Party. The Green Party, was split on the text and a special convention to determine its position was called off after the Dutch and French 'no' votes.

Following the rejection of the Constitution by French and Dutch voters, the ratification process was halted. As support by all members was required the Constitution was dropped and in July 2007 the European Council agreed upon the foundation of a new treaty to replace the rejected Constitution. The text agreed on 19 October 2007 contained many of the changes of the Constitution but would not replace the existing treaties, as the Constitution would have done, but amended them. This new treaty became known as the Reform Treaty or the Treaty of Lisbon. The referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon held on 12 June 2008 was defeated by the Irish electorate. With the results in for all 43 constituencies, RTÉ reported that the Lisbon Treaty was defeated by a margin of 53.4% to 46.6%. [cite news
url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0613/eulisbon.html
title=Ireland rejects Lisbon Treaty
work=RTÉ News
date=2008-06-13]

References