Ireland rejects treaty in blow for EU

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The pact, known as the Lisbon treaty, failed by a margin of 53.4 to 46.6 percent in the only EU country to put it to a popular vote.

"No" vote supporters cheered loudly for several minutes, interrupting an official as he read out the results.

Prime Minister Brian Cowen called the vote "a source of disappointment to my colleagues in government and to me."

"In a democracy, the will of the people as expressed at the ballot box is sovereign. The government accepts and respects the verdict of the Irish people."

The treaty was an effort to resurrect EU reforms that were torpedoed by French and Dutch voters in 2005.

This time all countries but Ireland avoided a referendum. The "No" vote means a country with fewer than 1 percent of the EU's 490 million population could doom a treaty painstakingly negotiated by all 27 member states.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso urged the other 26 members to press on and ratify the treaty. Fourteen have already done so and another four are close.

The treaty envisages a long-term president of the European Council of EU leaders, a stronger foreign policy chief and a mutual defence pact. It was due to take effect on January 1, but cannot come into force if a single member fails to ratify it.

Ireland ranks in surveys as one of the EU's most pro-European states. But the treaty's opponents persuaded voters that the pact would reduce the influence of small countries and undermine Ireland's jealously guarded historic neutrality.

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