Ireland voted in a knife-edge referendum on the European Union's new reform treaty Thursday, threatening to plunge the 27-nation bloc into new crisis if it is rejected.
Prime Minister Brian Cowen voiced confidence that the country's three million voters would back the Lisbon Treaty, despite recent opinion polls indicating that the result is too close to call. "I'm happy, I've led it the very best way I possibly could, I did it from the front, I've gone all over the country, I've put the issues," he told reporters. Asked if he was nervous, he said: "No, I'm confident."
But EU leaders are anxiously watching Ireland's voters after a late surge of opposition, despite an all-out "Yes" campaign led by Cowen and backed by all bar one of the main parties.
Ireland is the only EU member holding a public vote on the Lisbon Treaty, which replaced a draft EU constitution after its rejection by French and Dutch voters in 2005. One poll last week put the "no" campaign ahead by 35 percent against 30 percent for those backing the treaty. At the weekend another survey predicted a narrow "yes" victory, by 42 percent to 39 percent. |