Ireland 'could not survive' without EU, says PM

(DUBLIN) - Ireland could not weather the economic crisis if it were not part of the eurozone, Prime Minister Brian Cowen said Wednesday, voicing confidence in winning a second referendum on a key EU reform treaty.

Cowen said membership of the eurozone and the European Union meant recession-hit Ireland had a "zone of stability" available to it, a "means by which we can survive this (economic) crisis".

"We could not survive this crisis, we couldn't survive it, believe me, without our membership of the eurozone and the availability of resources from the European Central Bank," he told lawmakers.

"That is an unassailable fact of life," he added.

Cowen said assurances he received from European colleagues at an EU summit in Brussels last week were "of huge significance," paving the way for a second vote on the EU's Lisbon treaty in early October.

Speculation is focusing on a referendum date of October 2. Cowen is expected to name the date in the next week or two, when he moves legislation in the Dail to enable the referendum.

Legally binding assurances on the reform treaty from heads of state in the 27 nation bloc had ensured "that the bogus arguments (against the treaty) are eliminated".

Cowen said he did not believe "a cogent argument can be articulated or presented that suggests it is in our interests as a people to vote down this treaty a second time."

Last week, a European summit gave Cowen legal guarantees on issues of concern to Irish voters that contributed to the shock 53.4 percent rejection of the treaty a year ago.

The guarantees, which are to become a protocol attached to a future EU treaty, affirm Ireland's military neutrality and taxation system, as well as its stance on social issues like abortion.

Support for the treaty has been growing as Ireland's the crisis has deepened in the former Celtic Tiger economy. The most recent polls show 54 percent would now vote 'yes' to Lisbon.

Only Ireland was constitutionally bound to put the treaty to a public vote. Almost all the 27 EU members have endorsed the treaty through votes in their national parliaments.