Ireland will hold a referendum on the European Constitution despite France's rejection of the charter, the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today.
"We're still committed to the Constitution and I hope all member states are committed to it.
Everyone has an obligation before November to ratify the Constitution so the process will continue," the Taoiseach said.
Bertie Ahern
He supported the president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso's contention that the document could not be renegotiated despite signs that the Dutch may also reject the charter in a referendum next Wednesday.
"We have to think long and hard. This is the culmination of four of five years work and I don't think really that it can be abandoned," Mr Ahern said at the opening of a school in Dublin today.
"I don't know how we could renegotiate it. Remember where it came from, it came from a convention that had gone on for several years," he said. "We are talking about an enormous document. What bit would you be trying to renegotiate, it's 480 pages. It was a compromise, it was a set of balances so I don't think there is any easy answer to that."
Mr Ahern said it was up to the French government to decide whether to call a second referendum and sais that while he expected most states to ratify the document, he anticipated more difficulties in the future.
He said he was disappointed with the result and called for "serious debate" at the next meeting of the European Council in June.
Mr Ahern insisted Irish voters would get the chance to have their say on the controversial 480-page document even though it has been dubbed dead. And the Taoiseach, during whose presidency the European Constitution was agreed, said there was little hope of renegotiating or redrafting the constitution.