Ah, the Irish

al-Reuters has the story of the Irish handing defeat to their political leaders over the EU treaty.
"The pact, known as the Lisbon treaty, failed by a margin of 53.4 to 46.6 percent in the only EU country to put it to a popular vote... Prime Minister Brian Cowen called the vote "a source of disappointment to my colleagues in government and to me." "In a democracy, the will of the people as expressed at the ballot box is sovereign. The government accepts and respects the verdict of the Irish people." Mary Lou McDonald, a member of the EU parliament from Ireland's nationalist Sinn Fein party, which helped lead the "No" campaign, said it would be impossible for Irish leaders to wriggle out of the referendum result... It wasn't the first time Irish voters have shocked the EU. They almost wrecked the bloc's plans for eastward expansion in 2001 by rejecting the Nice treaty, but the government staged a second referendum in which that pact passed. The government has said it is not considering a re-run this time around.

Rico says he's always found the Irish to be a proud people, more than willing to tell their betters to eff off like this...