Ireland intends to go ahead with its referendum on the EU constitution, despite its resounding rejection by French and Dutch voters, the Irish Foreign Minister said today.

"Yes, we are," Dermot Ahern told BBC radio when asked if Ireland still planned to put the troubled constitutional treaty to a popular vote. "We’ve made a decision based on the commitment that we gave when we put the constitution together in draft form."

There had been speculation that Ireland would follow Britain's lead and decide to suspend its referendum, ignoring calls from France and Germany for all EU member states to continue with the ratification process.

Ireland has yet to set a date for the referendum, and may in any case find events running away with its plans. EU leaders are due to discuss the fate of the constitutional charter at an emergency summit next week, with growing support for a "ratification holiday" while France and the Netherlands find a way to get back on board. The document can only come into effect if all 25 member states approve it.

The Polish president said today that his country was likely to delay its vote if next week's meeting fails to come up with a clear line the constitution's future.

In an interview with the Financial Times published today, Tony Blair defended the constitution and said Europe would still need a new set of rules established in due course.

Speaking for his trip to Washington, where he is due to meet President Bush later today, the Prime Minister said: "The constitution is a perfectly sensible way forward and at some point Europe is going to have to adopt rules for the future of Europe - and if it doesn't, it is not going to function properly."

Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, told MPs yesterday that the Government was shelving the legislation paving the way for a vote until the EU itself managed to achieve some "clarity" about the future of the constitution.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, Mr Straw denied that EU leaders would try to cherry-pick parts of the treaty and push them through without fanfare or consultation.

"There will be no introduction of this constitutional treaty, or indeed of anything that looks like a constitutional treaty, by the back door. That could only come in the UK by a full debate and by a referendum," he said.

But he said proposals that could be implemented without a plebiscite included one to give national parliaments more say over EU decisions and another to base a member state’s voting power on its population. Neither of these proposals was rejected by Britain’s various political parties, he argued.

"It would be absurd, if we could find a way of strengthening the role of the British House of Commons over EU legislation, to say that had to go to a referendum," he said. "The voting system will have to be changed at some stage because the Nice (Treaty) formula will have to be changed."

Mr Straw said that more momentous changes, such as the creation of a European foreign minister, would still have to be included in a constitutional treaty and subject to a referendum.

British ministers now privately anticipate a slow and lingering death for the blueprint rejected by the French and Dutch electorates last week, although a Populus poll for The Times shows that half the British electorate would still like a vote.

Mr Straw’s announcement to the House of Commons was coolly received across the Channel. Catherine Colonna, the French European Affairs Minister, said: "It is a question of democracy. It is not for one member of the EU to decide for the others, or to block the process of ratification of a treaty signed by 25 countries."

Other EU leaders clung to the fact that Mr Straw only suspended the referendum rather than cancelling it, and insisted that the constitution was still alive. Jean-Claude Juncker, the Prime Minster of Luxembourg and current president of the EU, insisted: "The ratification process is not dead . . . It would have been if the British Government had said it would stop the ratification, which it didn’t."

Joschka Fischer, the German Foreign Minister, said that the British announcement was no surprise, adding: "This is not an end, rather an interruption."

The Times poll showed that although all 25 member countries must back the treaty for it to come into force, more than half the public (54 per cent) think that there should be a referendum here. Just two fifths (40 per cent) believe that it would be pointless to go ahead after last week’s votes.

The number saying that they would vote no has doubled from 24 to 50 per cent over the past six weeks since the question was last asked, while support for the "yes" side has dropped from 29 to 18 per cent over the period.

Opposition to the constitution is highest and has increased most among Conservative voters, at 71 per cent, up 30 points since April 23. Opposition is lowest among Labour voters, at 40 per cent, compared with 25 per cent of them saying that they will vote.

Next week's meeting is likely to stormy, with disagreements over money and EU enlargement as well as the ill-fated constitution. Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, was today meeting fellow European finance ministers in Luxembourg to discuss the EU budget for the next seven years. Mr Brown was expected to come under severe pressure to give up the UK's budget rebate, worth around £3 billion a year, although Britain is prepared to deploy its veto to protect the rebate.

The Government has also provoked its EU partners on a third front by making the continued enlargement of the bloc a priority for the British presidency, which begins next month. Turkey begins accession talks in October, but French and German public opinion has swung heavily against Turkish membership.

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