Dublin - The Green Party - a junior partner in Ireland's governing coalition - will not take a stance when the country votes on the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, Irish newspapers reported Monday. A special party convention on Saturday saw 63 per cent vote in favour of the treaty and 37 per cent against, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to adopt an official party position.
This means that while the party itself will not participate in the referendum debate, individual members can be involved on either side.
The party's eight members of parliament, including three ministers, all favour a yes vote. In the past the party - which entered government following elections in May 2007 - had opposed all EU treaties.
Green Party leader and Environment Minister John Gormley said he interprets the vote as "a mandate for myself and my parliamentary colleagues to recommend a yes vote in the upcoming treaty debate," The Irish Times reported.
Ireland is the only one of the EU's 27 members which will be holding a referendum on the bloc's latest accord on institutional reform. A date for the vote is expected within the next two weeks.
The treaty, if ratified by all member states, will come into effect on January 1, 2009.
