Nothing could be further from the truth. As A G Goldsbrough correctly points out, the Lisbon Treaty cannot come into force unless all 27 countries ratify it, so it is not even possible for the other EU countries to ignore the Irish referendum.

The point I was making in my previous letter is that the need to increase the efficiency and democratic accountability of the EU has not gone away. This can only be done by reforms to the EU rulebook (ie. the treaties). The Lisbon Treaty aimed to do just that. We need to find a solution that is acceptable to the Irish and to the other 26 countries. Opinion polls suggest that the Irish did not oppose the Lisbon Treaty because they opposed the EU. The 'No' campaigners in Ireland said themselves that they wanted to negotiate a better deal. So, when Ireland has identified which aspects of the Lisbon package they did not like, we will have the basis to negotiate a compromise acceptable to all.

Richard Corbett, Labour MEP for Yorkshire and Humber