Ireland said no to the Lisbon Treaty earlier this summer but everyone wanted to know why…OK…not everyone but I did anyway.

The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has published the findings of the research they undertook after the No vote. So if you want to get your own copy of the findings (an exhaustive 5 page executive summary) just go to the homepage and scroll down to the bottom for the latest news.

Optionally try clicking this link and hopefully a copy should start to download:

Post Lisbon Treaty Referendum Research Findings

The official comments so far on what this means have been vague with a sort of “we will see” attitude. Many expect a second go at the treaty, a few even think we can renegotiate (I personally doubt that), others want Ireland to be punished and pushed out to the fringes of the EU but the least likely option is that nothing will happen.

Just to add, there is a very good breakdown of the Treaty results and some comments from ministers here:

Lack of information was top reason for Lisbon No vote – EUobserver