A Sad Day. :(

Day 683, 03:54 • Published in Ireland Ireland • by Dylanb9216

Taken from RTE News:

Lisbon tallies indicate massive Yes swing
Saturday, 3 October 2009 11:47
The Lisbon Treaty looks set to be passed by a decisive majority, as tallies from around the country indicate a massive swing to the Yes side.

Live - Referendum Count Text Updates

Although there are no official results in yet, tallies everywhere are showing a big increase in support for the Treaty.

Count staff started opening ballot boxes at 9am, and the sorting of votes is continuing.

As the ballot papers are being sorted, a clear picture is starting to emerge from tallies - showing a decisive swing to the Yes side.

A final official result is expected at around 5pm.

So far, only Donegal North East looks like voting No - neighbouring Donegal South West is too close to call.

Tallies from Dublin South West indicate a clear Yes vote with 60% of boxes open. The constituency had the highest No vote in 2008.

In Donegal North East, tallies suggest a big swing to the Yes side. The No vote was 64.7% in the first referendum.

All boxes are opened in Kerry North and tallies are indicating a 60:40 margin in favour of the Yes side. Turnout was 50%.

Indications from other constituencies appear to be the same - the Yes vote is reported to be up everywhere.

EU eagerly awaits results

Leaders from the European Union's 27 nations are anxiously awaiting the result of the Irish referendum.

Irish voters rejected the EU reform treaty last year, and a second No vote could derail the accords which have been painstakingly crafted through years of negotiation.

Ireland is the only EU country constitutionally obliged to put the treaty to a referendum.

Poland and the Czech Republic are the only other countries that have yet to ratify the Lisbon Treaty.

There has been sustained interest in Europe in the result of the Irish referendum, with an awareness across capitals that the Lisbon Treaty will stand or fall on the Irish vote.

In Brussels at the home of the European institutions, and the focus of the eight years of painstaking negotiations that led to Lisbon, officials have been in a state of some anxiety.

If Lisbon comes into force the first step will be the appointment of the 27 member European Commission.

The national capitals will then propose the first full time president of the European Council, the body representing member states, as well as it new foreign affairs representative.

The new double-majority voting system will not come into effect until 2014.

If Lisbon is rejected, than Europe will continue under the Nice Treaty, but after eight years of negotiations it will appear that Europe is simply incapable of reforming itself, and the EU will be in crisis.

Some parts of Lisbon could technically be applied to upcoming accession treaties, or a core group of states may forge ahead in a two-tier Europe, but both these options are legally and politically fraught with problems.


http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1003/eulisbon1.html