WAY TO GO IRISH !!!! You make the Irish-Americans like myself proud

S.Solomon, WPB, USA

Once again common sense has prevailed. The Irish vote demonstrated that small countries can continue to have thier say and not be bullied into accepting policies made by the giants, such as France and Germany...and it seems Britain, although without some formal backing from its people.

Scott, Balbriggan, Ireland

The Irish knew what they were rejecting. More centralized bureaucracy, greater concentration of power in the hands of a few. An historic recipe for malfeasance and outright corruption. Look no further than the U.N. as an example of the dysfunction that can result from a loss of sovereignty.

Keven, Cincinnati, USA

The Irish voted 'No', so the pro-europeans are saying 'ignore them'. I am not the only Briton to leave the U K because of my detestation of the E U and what it has done to the U K. The people saying that the Irish vote should be ignored are the biggest part of the problem - They are undemocratic.

Richard, Kiev, Ukraine

Luca from Genoa
We Irish didn't vote no because the treaty was "complicated". The treaty was completely unreadable & open to different interruptions by any standards, espcially legal ones. Please try reading the treaty (you can find it on line) and decide for yourself.

Kieran , Dublin, Ireland

The EU Commission by its action and statements believes it has a divine right to rule. We challenged and buried that bad concept three hundred years ago. It is an absolute disgrace that we had to rely on Ireland alone to renew that challenge but thank God they had the guts to do it.

Bob, Faversham, UK

The EU says it has no plan 'B' but there is: ignore the result and carry on regardless.

R Mason, London, UK

The Irish have every right to control their future and decide their destiny w/o interference. With all the pissing contests in Europe for the past several centuries, being the dumb humans we are that don't learn form the past, I'll give the EU 50 years till nationalism tears it apart.

Mike, Greenville SC , USA

"the Union that voters find tolerable" is a cynical joke. most Irish voters rejected the Lisbon Treaty because they found it "complicated". how is a treaty creating a framework for a region of half a billion people supposed to be simple?

Luca, Genoa,

The EU will implement the constitution, there will be articles and indignant complaints about them and the arrogance of the EU, governments will say they will 'protect our independence' but will secretly cooperate and support the EU behind closed doors because they don't like voters either.

R Mason, London, UK

The point is that people just dont want the decision making process in the EU to be made easier. I recently googled to find out who the South East MEP was and asked for a report on what he had done for the region. No surprise, no response yet!

SK, East Sussex, England

We already have statements that the vote will be ignored. On whoose authority are these made? Ladies and gents we were never asked about europe at the ballot box. the last UK referendum was ambiguously worded.

dave, chorley,

"What makes the Irish so sure that this decision against Europe won't harm them?"

As sure as the Irish can be that a yes vote will harm them.

ic, Chicago, USA

Correct me if I am wrong but I was under the impression the very reason for the Lisbon Treaty was that the EU could NOT
continue without the new Constitution.
What is it the Europhiles are so anxious about ?
They live in a `Fools Paradise` the sooner they realise that the better for us all.

Peter Bolt, Redditch, UK

Johann Wilhelm's comments miss the point.
The Irish voters are more knowledgeable than some have credited them with.
People join all sorts of organizations and abide by their rules, but they will not relinquish many of the rights and liberties their country has granted them over centuries.

Padraig, Perth, Western Australia

I read with interest comments from Roderick Beck, Paris, France, which I think sums up what a lot of people feel is the EU's problem.
If he and the EU believe we need and want this treaty why can,t we all have a vote for or against it. Then he can justify his insulting remarks.

james, Brighton, UK

As an Irish-American Catholic, my ancestral country did the right thing.

Daniel, Forest Hill, USA

It is OK for the Irish to decide that they want to jeopardize the development of the European Union. But is it not true that all the other nations would also be giving up national independence to the European Community? What makes the Irish so sure that this decision against Europe won't harm them?

Johann Wilhelm von Krause, Stendal, Germany

Whilst a Yes protagonist I can only but congratulate the Irish on the integrity of their enviable democratic process. It is indeed a compliment to European maturity that Ireland has condoned French/Dutch rejection and will force a better yet solution. I am embarassed that our UK government is so wet

Mike L, Chippenham, Wilts

It was not up to us in Ireland to allow this treaty, rejected by some of our fellow Europeans in a previous format, to be passed. Half a million deciding for half a billion is not on. We want our fellow Europeans to be given a democratic say in this. If it is so good for us we will all say 'Yes'.

John McCarthy, Maynooth, Ireland

If what we have seen so far is the EU "coping fine" God help us all when it fails, as it is doomed to do.

Idris Francis, Petersfield, UK

Irish people have fought long and hard for democracy and fairness in the political system. Yesterday proved that this spirit is not dead.

Keelin, Dungarvan,

Mr. Maddox clearly understates the ignorance and paranoia that infected the Irish voters that voted against the Lisbon Treaty. And the vote is particularly galling given that Ireland's prosperity was founded on two pillars: 70 billion Euros in EU aid and undercutting European corporate tax rates.

Roderick Beck, Paris, France

It is an absolute disgrace if the EU, led by the French attempts to break its own rules and continue with the enactment of the Lisbon Treaty. It will confirm the EU is not interested in what the member countries' voters opinions are and that it will steamroller over any objections of any kind.

Terence Edwin William Hutchings, London, England

The 'EU' is a dangerous monster, the Irish have my admiration, the sooner we have a Referendum in England the better. What people like our Prime Minister fail to realise is that not only do we not want this rediculous treaty, we do not want any part of the whole Eurofiasco.

Clive Burghard, LANCING, ENGLAND

I read elsewhere that Gordon Brown and Sarkozy are burning up the wires figuring out how to thwart Ireland and their own people in Britain and France. How can you stand this man another day after he denied you the referendum you were promised and the general election you deserve?

Catherine, Chicago, USA

A European constitution should be a simple document like the U.S. constitution that spells out the rights of citizens in a free continent. The present version runs to hundreds of pages and is full of unintelligible gibberish outlining a massive bureaucracy. Thank goodness the Irish said No.

Tony, Chicago, USA

To enlarge Richards arguement.The numbers of representatives should now be reduced.
Why a representative for,say ,an area in the Midlands!.Why does the UK need more than,say,3 representatives? If each country had only 3 representatives the populace would be better off,better represented,happier?

david, Barnsley, England

David, says we should quite the EU and have coped fine for thousand of years. Wrong, for most of that time England was part of European empires - Celtic cultural area, Roman, Scandanavian (Danelaw area and under Cnut), Norman, Angevian, later Hanoverian. Learning some historical facts might help.

Mark Jones, Cardiff, Wales

One of the earliest pieces of advice I was given on entering the adult world was. "If you don't understand what you are signing - don't sign"

If the Treaty was written in plain language so that people could understand it (even the Yes voters say they did not) the result may have been changed

Arthur Pendragon, Hull,

An irish "no" would be decisive for the whole Lisbon treaty, it was said before the vote. Hours afterwards the irish people voted "wrong" and said "no" to the treaty, UK,France and Germany will find a solution to what they now call the "irish problem". If you dont like the people, change it!

Tore Fossgard, Nesodden, Norway

This Government has ably demonstrated that it cannot be trusted, what fools we would be to place even more trust in a group of unknown, unelected foreigners.
As treaties go, ask the American Indians about Governments honouring treaties, the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty has still not been honoured !

Clive Burghard, LANCING, ENGLAND

When will the politicians get the message that we don't mind the Common Market but we DO NOT want to give more powers to Brussels. Scrap the treaty NOW.

Ian P, Thundersley, Essex UK

"There will be .. an attempt by some to say that the Irish did not understand what they were rejecting. "

And, had they voted it for it, they would not have understood what they were accepting. Democratic decisions do not gain their legitimacy from perfect understanding.

Nicholas Hallam, Banstead,

There is something more basic than Lisbon in play here. We see Europe's political elites either deny their citizens a vote, or they allow one and lose.

Rule by political elites in Europe is gradually being exposed as fundamentally opposed to the will of the people. That is a very big deal.

jon livesey, Sunnyvale, CA/USA

I agree with Richard. A lightweight federation of independent states makes sense. Less talking shop "standards" institutions - just let us do business.

andrew, zurich,

Hurray for Ireland!

Eric, Calgary, Canada

The fourth option of course is surely the best, and that is that we quit the EU. What do we in Britain need it for? Haven't we coped just fine for thousands of years?

David, Cambridge, UK

Most Irish people rejected membership of the United Kingdom on the grounds that their views were diminished in a larger empire; this vote is a continuation of that. From an *English* perspective, we could ironically benefit as numerically we are quite a large nation (50 million plus).

Paul, Coventry,

The EU has achieved all required goals - now it is time for all European politicians to find a productive job.

EU can now be administered by representatives of the National Governments of the 27 countries.

No more gravy trains.

Richard, Bucharest,