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Ireland backs EU treaty by 67.13 percent: final results

03 October 2009, 17:17 CET
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(DUBLIN) - Irish voters backed the EU's Lisbon Treaty by 67.13 percent in favour compared to 32.87 percent against, according to final results of a re-run referendum published Saturday.

The overwhelming Yes vote in Friday's poll overturns Ireland's stunning No vote in a first ballot in June last year, which plunged the 27-nation European Union into limbo.

Only two of Ireland's 43 constituencies -- Donegal Southwest and Donegal Northwest, in the north of the country -- voted against the treaty, which was rejected by 53 percent of voters last year.

Officials said turnout was 59 percent in the new referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, which is designed to streamline decision-making in the expanding European Union.

Even before the final votes were published, Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen called the vote "a good day for Ireland and... a good day for Europe," while EU counterparts also hailed a crucial move for its future.

A second No vote would have effectively killed the treaty, which notably creates a new full-time EU president and foreign minister for the EU, home to some 500 million Europeans.

Ireland, the only EU state constitutionally obliged to hold a referendum, agreed to hold another poll after securing guarantees on key policy areas such as its military neutrality, abortion and tax laws.


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