Brussels will not be happy

It may make a right mess of the European project; it may drive the European Commission to despair; it may seriously upset the bigwigs of the European Council; it may even be nullified by forcing the Irish to repeat the process until they come up with the right answer. While I am generally in favour of the Treaty of Lisbon, I cannot help feeling a warm glow of satisfaction at this report in The Times:

The Republic of Ireland is set to reject the Lisbon Treaty, destroying ambitions to salvage a draft European constitution.
Rejection by only one of the European Union’s 27 member states would mean that the treaty — ratified by five parliaments so far — would fall.
Ireland has been the only country to put the treaty to a referendum. According to an opinion poll published today in The Irish Times, 35 per cent of people surveyed intend to vote “No” in next Thursday’s ballot, more than double the 17 per cent figure in the newspaper’s last survey three weeks ago. Support for the treaty has fallen from 35 per cent to 30 per cent, with 28 per cent undecided and 7 per cent intending to abstain.

Well done to the Irish.