67% of Irish voters back EU treaty

Officials results showed more than two-thirds of Irish voters approved the European Union's Lisbon reform treaty in a referendum, national broadcaster RTE said today.

RTE said 67 percent of voters had backed the treaty, compared with 47 percent when voters rejected it last year.

A majority of voters in 41 of Ireland's 43 constituencies backed the treaty, it said.

The Treaty, which still needs the approval of Poland and the Czech Republic, would mean Malta will get a sixth seat in the EU. The national parliament, like the other national parliaments in EU states, would have a greater say in EU law-making, while Malta would retain its Commissioner in the European Commission.