First to report outcome of Irish EU vote, vital for bloc’s future plans

Reuters was 90 minutes ahead of other newswires on Oct 2 with exit polls that pointed to a ‘yes’ vote in Ireland’s referendum on the Lisbon reform treaty. Irish voters’ approval at the second time of asking was essential to keep the treaty alive. The document aims to simplify decision making in today’s much larger EU, allow the appointment of a president and foreign minister to represent the bloc internationally and give more solid institutional backing to the bloc’s Euro currency. Reuters reporting of the vote from Dublin, Prague, Brussels, Warsaw and London also looked beyond the immediate news to whether further obstacles to ratification remain. Poland has not yet signed, the Czech President Klaus is reluctant to approve the treaty and Britain’s opposition Conservatives, who are likely to form the next government, have said they will hold a referendum if the treaty has not been approved by the time they take office.