COMMENT ON NO VOTE:STRESSING THE need for Ireland's No vote on the Lisbon Treaty to be honoured, former British prime minister John Major argued yesterday that the EU may have hit an insurmountable "roadblock".
Speaking in Cork, where he was receiving the freedom of the city, Mr Major said: "There are suggestions that Europe will find a way around the Irish No. . . I think they're going to have to wait a while and let things settle down.
"But it may simply be that there is a roadblock here and you cannot overcome that roadblock. Every nation has to say Yes and one nation has democratically and clearly said No and that has to be honoured," he added.
Munster MEP Kathy Sinnott yesterday praised the Government for the manner in which it handled itself at the summit.
"It is reassuring that our Government has stated publicly that they respect the No vote and that they want to study the concerns of the people." But, she said "the Government should realise that window-dressing the treaty will not work. Only substantial changes to the text or a new text should be put to the people in any further referenda."
Meanwhile, broadcaster Gay Byrne - who was one of a number of commentators to publicly oppose the treaty - said he welcomed last week's No vote.
Speaking at a function in Dublin yesterday, Byrne said the EU had "gone far enough".
He was particularly put off when Commission President José Manuel Barroso likened the EU to an "empire" in a speech he made last year.
"When fellas start talking about an empire, I get a shuddering feeling around my knees."
Indicating he would vote No in any future referendum on the treaty, Byrne said: "I don't want to end up in a super-state and a totalitarian state."