THE PRESIDENT of Latvia has asked for the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty to be put to the Irish public again and is calling on the rest of the EU to be patient while this is done.
Speaking during a visit to Limerick yesterday, President Valdis Zatlers spoke about the strength of European unity and thanked Ireland for the warm welcome it had given to the thousands of Latvian people who had come to live here.
When asked if he felt Ireland had created a problem for Latvia by rejecting the Lisbon Treaty, which his country ratified, he suggested that the question might be put to the Irish public again.
"Corrective measures are always possible - we have to be just patient and just ask this question once more when you are ready," said Mr Zatlers.
The president of Latvia visited Limerick as part of a three-day trip to Ireland to coincide with the 90th anniversary celebrations of Latvian independence.
It is estimated that there are 30,000 Latvian people living in Ireland with approximately 2,000 living in the midwest region.
In Limerick Mr Zatlers and his wife Lilita met members of the Latvian community whose children attend five of the schools in the city centre.
There are 15 Latvian children currently studying at the Presentation secondary and primary schools, CBS primary and secondary schools and St Michael's Infant School.
Fifth-year student at the Presentation Secondary School, Sintiga Unda, presented the Latvian first lady with flowers.
She has been living in Ireland for the last four years and her mother, Inesa, is founder of the Latvian Society in Limerick.
Mrs Unda works at Cook Medical in the National Technological Park, Plassey, which Mr Zatlers also visited yesterday to talk with three of the Latvian workers at the plant.
"There are many Latvian people with good education and a lot of experience but they are working in shops and pubs because of the language difficulties, but I think this will change when they improve their language skills," said Mrs Unda.
At the Presentation school, Mr Zatlers was presented with a sliotar and hurley which he pucked from the stage in the gymnasium at the school where students performed traditional Irish songs and dances.
Mr Zatlers also visited City Hall in Limerick to open an exhibition of work from the Latvian People's Front Museum, The Singing Revolution: From the Renaissance to the European Union. The exhibition features historical photographs and documents from the Latvian national renaissance which led to Latvia regaining its independence in 1991.