French President Nicolas Sarkozy praised the Irish Government's 'courageous' decision to re-run the Lisbon Treaty referendum as he said goodbye to the European Parliament this morning.
As he wrapped up his six-month tenure as head of the European Council, Mr Sarkozy said the only way for Europe to get past the problems caused by the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty is for the Irish people to be consulted again.
He defended the concession to guarantee a commissioner for each member state if Lisbon comes into effect.
Mr Sarkozy noted that this caused difficulties for some countries but insisted that Lisbon could only go ahead if the Irish vote again and say Yes, and that for this to happen something new had to be added.
He also confirmed that the commitments given to Ireland on neutrality, fiscal independence and family legislation will be legislated for in the next EU treaty on enlargement, probably in 2010 or 2011.
In his final address to MEPs as head of the European Council, Mr Sarkozy said that he had tried to make Europe move, and that Europe had both moved and changed him.
He also said that Europe should continue to tackle what he termed big projects rather than small ones, since the bigger challenges forced Europe to overcome what he termed national egos.
Anger among electorate - SF
Elsewhere, Sinn Fein's Justice Spokesperson Aonghus Ó Snodaigh has said he believes there will be an even stronger rejection of the Lisbon Treaty when people are asked to vote on it a second time.
He said regretfully Taoiseach Brian Cowan went to Europe this week with an undemocratic mandate, ignoring the wishes of the people who rejected the treaty.
He believes there is a lot of anger among the electorate who he believes will reject it again, second time round.
Mr Ó Snodaigh was in Limerick accompanying local elections candidate Maurice Quinlivin to a meeting in Henry Street Garda station about Sinn Fins policy on policing.
