The Irish have voted yes. The more cynical will say that it was fear of the economic meltdown that won the day.

There is no doubt that Ireland, for long held to be the economic model for globalised prosperity, is going through an extremely difficult period. With a crippling unemployment rate already at 11.6 per cent, some are predicting it will hit 15 per cent by the end of 2010. Little wonder, then, that the safeguarding of jobs is and will continue to be the number one priority for the country.

In sync with the prevailing atmosphere, the pro-Lisbon Treaty campaign focused on jobs using slogans such as Yes For Jobs and Yes For The Economy.

Big businesses also joined the fray rooting for a yes vote. Never one to miss out on a publicity stunt, Michael O'Leary, who heads Ryanair, emblazoned one of his planes with the wording "Yes to Europe" and splashed full-page adverts. This was indeed an amazing turnaround from last October when the same Mr O'Leary reportedly said that "it seems that only in the European Union, Ireland and Zimbabwe are you forced to vote twice". This is the second time in very recent history that the Irish have gone through the pantomime of first voting no and then voting yes a few months later. The very same thing happened with the Nice Treaty.

Clearly, the Irish will have to think well and hard when they come to vote again on any future Treaty as, otherwise, they risk being seriously ridiculed if they go through the same process again. On the other hand, one must comment that the Irish have shown considerable restraint in not going for a no vote, which would have effectively downed the Irish government that is hugely unpopular.

So where do we go from here? Following the Irish yes vote, all that is left is the ratification of two countries, Poland and the Czech Republic. One would assume that after all the Irish drama the EU would now be able to get on with its work. This, however, would not be taking into account the Czech President who is intrinsically against the Treaty and the centre-right senators who, with a sense of high drama, lodged a constitutional court case on the eve of the Irish vote. This has effectively given Vaclav Klaus, the Czech President, the perfect excuse to checkmate the Treaty till the court case is decided, possibly delaying ratification by a few more weeks at least.

Some say that the plan is to delay ratification by months, long enough for the UK Conservatives to win the elections and, thus, force a referendum in the UK. This, however, seems to be a long shot and I'd rather not go there.

With or without the Lisbon Treaty, the EU has moved forward and has managed to function even if in its own peculiar way. Of course, the ratification of the Treaty should give the EU a stronger voice on the international stage while improving decision making within the EU with an extension of majority voting. It will also give more power to the European Parliament while integrating further national parliaments.

But all the advantages brought by the Lisbon Treaty and, indeed, the whole EU project itself will still depend heavily on the political willingness of its leaders to embrace change.

A lot will continue to depend on the political fortunes at any particular moment of Europe's political leaders. Those in difficulty will blame the EU for some of their national problems and will, as we have seen, resort to nationalistic behaviour in a vain struggle to preserve the status quo. There will also be those leaders who will seek to push the European agenda although in the current circumstances they will always face an uphill battle. It has always been this way and will indeed continue to be this way.

From a Malta perspective we have all to gain from a quick ratification. With the Lisbon Treaty in place we would retain our commissioner for good rather than on a rotation basis. We will also gain a sixth seat in the European Parliament.

While the commissioner post is certainly the most high profile, the sixth seat is the one which, at least in theory, should translate into immediate national benefits. A sixth seat should mean the coverage of at least another two committees. With the current Maltese MEPs so stretched, it's hoped that Joseph Cuschieri, our sixth MEP, will be able to land a couple of committees on which we are not yet present.

I, for one, would hope that we put in a presence in the agriculture committee and the committee covering transport and tourism. In any case, if and when Mr Cuschieri does finally land in Brussels he, maybe more than the other five, will over the next five years have to show that acquiring the sixth seat was indeed an achievement the importance of which goes well beyond all the hype that has so far surrounded that same seat.