Abstract
On Friday, 13 June 2008, the Irish electorate for the second time in seven years rejected a European Treaty when they voted against the Lisbon Treaty. The rejection was in spite of sizeable support among Irish people for EU membership. This raises the question ‘why would a country so supportive of EU membership reject a European Treaty?’ This paper provides a detailed review of the 2008 Lisbon referendum campaign. It begins by outlining the political context to the referendum. Following on from this, it examines the main players on both sides of the debate and outlines the key issues and events of the campaign. The paper then provides an assessment of the diversity of factors that lay behind voters’ decision to reject the Treaty before concluding with an analysis of the potential responses of the government and the EU.
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