Colm Burke, Fine Gael MEP for Ireland South, has urged the Government to hold the second Lisbon Treaty Referendum in April, and not to wait until next autumn.
Speaking ahead of the FG European Convention in Cork, Mr Burke said 'The current economic crisis has brought home to people, up and down the land, how vital is Ireland's membership of the European Union.
'It is not alarmist to state that were we not inside the Union our economic plight would mirror that of Iceland, with double digit interest rates and reliance on an International Monetary Fund bail-out,' he said.
Mr Burke said he would like to see the leaders of the main pro-European parties, Brian Cowen, Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore, coming together and agreeing a joint policy platform for putting the Lisbon Treaty to the people in an early referendum.
