Irish voters approve deficit-fighting treaty

DUBLIN - The Associated Press

Ireland’s voters have agreed to ratify the European Union’s deficit-fighting treaty with “yes” votes reaching 60 percent, substantial official results showed June 1. Leading Irish opponents of European austerity conceded defeat even before all ballots were counted.

The treaty’s approval relieves some pressure on EU financial chiefs as they battle to contain the eurozone’s debt crisis. But critics said the tougher deficit rules would do nothing to stimulate desperately needed growth in bailed-out Ireland, Portugal and Greece, nor stop Spain or Italy from requiring aid too. “The question now is where will the jobs and the stability they have promised come from, against the backdrop of a continuing and deepening capitalist crisis within Europe? Their policies will only make the situation worse,” said Joe Higgins, leader of Ireland’s Socialist Party, which opposed the treaty.

Public rejection could have blocked Ireland from receiving new EU loans once its 2010 bailout money runs out next year. It also would have sent political shockwaves through other eurozone members, where anger against austerity and bank bailouts runs similarly high but citizens are denied the chance to vote on the treaty.