Will Sarkozy persuade the Irish to vote again?

Mr. Sarkozy wants the referendum to be repeated this fall, but the Irish Prime Minister fears that it will be worse than this summer’s fiasco. — Photo: AP Nicolas Sarkozy… His real goal was to push through a second referendum. French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a fast trip to Ireland on July 21. He faced a cold reception. Ironically, he angered the Irish supporters of the Lisbon treaty on reform, which the Irish rejected at a June 12 referendum. Mr. Sarkozy arrived in Dublin as the current EU chairman to promote the EU reform treaty again. Officially, his aim was to try and understand why the Irish voted against the treaty and what could be done for Europe to remain united, but his real goal was to push through a second referendum. Having talked to Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen and 15 leaders of political parties and... [read full story]