Ireland's main opposition party on Sunday urged the government to hold a second referendum on the EU reform treaty in April, months earlier than previously proposed, to help deal quickly with economic woes, according to Reuters. The government reiterated the vote would happen before the end of October but it would not set a date until it agreed with European partners on the details of guarantees promised in exchange for holding the re-run. A member of the European Parliament for the Irish opposition Fine Gael party said the financial crisis, much of it home-grown, has made it more urgent for Ireland to emphasise its allegiance to the European Union. "It is not alarmist to state that were we not inside the Union our economic plight would mirror that of Iceland," Colm Burke said in a statement. An alliance between Fine Gael, the fellow opposition Labour Party and the governing Fianna Fail, which together represent an overwhelming majority of the electorate, failed to obtain a "Yes" vote in the first Lisbon Treaty referendum last June. The treaty, aimed at streamlining decision-making in Brussels, must be ratified by all 27 EU member states. Ireland's constitution requires a referendum, stalling the whole process just as EU backers say the bloc needs to show it is capable of quick and coordinated action to tackle financial crisis. Ireland said in December it was prepared to hold a second ballot on the basis of concessions secured from EU counterparts, which it hopes will sway opinion towards a "Yes" vote this time. The concessions include allowing Ireland to keep a permanent commissioner and on sensitive areas of its traditional military neutrality, taxation policy and workers' rights. "The conclusions of the December European Council state that work on the guarantees should be concluded no later than mid-2009," the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday. Once the guarantees are agreed, the government will call a second vote before the current European Commission leaves office at the end of October, the ministry said after Foreign Minister Micheal Martin met Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra to discuss the treaty and the economy. The Czech Republic holds the EU's rotating presidency. The Irish government has been focusing on a bailout of Ireland's largest banks, which has been overshadowed by a series of scandals. It has now made an overhaul of its financial regulatory system its next top priority. Former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing, who had led work on the defunct EU constitution which preceded the Lisbon treaty, said on Saturday he favoured a second vote in late April or early May. An October date would not be suitable because it would coincide with the formation of the next commission, he said. "Until the Irish answer, people will not know whether it is to be 17, or 27 (commissioners), so there will be confusion," Giscard told The Irish Times newspaper. Ireland became the first euro zone country to enter recession after the bursting of its property bubble and is running one of the highest budget deficits in the EU. Its problems have been compounded by a series of bank scandals. Fine Gael's Burke said voters should not however punish the government by rejecting the EU treaty again. "And to those many frightened and angry voters who want to take out their wrath on the current government for their woeful economic mismanagement I say, you will get your chance in June's European and local government elections," Burke said.
