"We won't take no for an answer"

At least that was my initial reaction reading an article on the BBC's website noting that Ireland is ready to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in the Autumn of 2009 if given certain guarantees by the EU. The President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering has said that dialogue with Irish citizens before the first vote in June had not been "serious enough".

To force a second Irish referendum is simply undemocratic. The Irish people have already provided their verdict on the treaty. William Hague has rightly said that "the EU is in danger of being seen as 'increasingly unaccountable and out of touch' if it doesn't listen to what people are saying".