How the EU got here and what happens next?
December 13th, 2007:Lisbon Treaty is signed by all 27 EU leaders.
June 12th, 2008:Irish voters go to the polls, rejecting the treaty by a margin of 53 per cent to 47 per cent.
June 19th/20th, 2008:EU leaders meeting in Brussels agree to give Taoiseach Brian Cowen until October to analyse and report back on the reasons for the No vote. Pressure mounts on Ireland to hold a re-run of the referendum.
July 1st, 2008:France takes over as EU president with its main priority to rescue the Lisbon Treaty.
July 11th, 2008:French president Nicolas Sarkozy is due to visit Dublin to see for himself the mood in Ireland.
July-September 2008:The Government is due to begin a national consultation.
October 15th, 2008:Mr Cowen is due to deliver his analysis of the vote at an EU summit, providing ideas on how to solve the Lisbon dilemma. Most member states will expect Mr Cowen to consider holding a second referendum.
October 2008:The Czech Republic's constitutional court is due to give a ruling on whether the treaty is compatible with the Czech constitution.
November/December 2008:Sweden, and possibly the Czech Republic, are expected to ratify the treaty, leaving Ireland isolated as the only state to reject Lisbon.
December 2008:Taoiseach Brian Cowen will go the European Council hoping to win concessions that would enable him to persuade the Irish public to support the Lisbon Treaty in a new referendum.
March 2009:Named as a possible date for a second referendum, with several EU states anxious to get the treaty ratified before the European elections.
June 5th 2009:European/local elections to be held in Ireland.
November 2009:New appointments to be made to the European Commission. If Lisbon is ratified in all 27 states, every member state will have a commissioner.
If the Nice Treaty is in force, there will be less than 27 commissioners.
2014:New Lisbon provisions regarding European Commission kick in, assuming the treaty is ratified.
The number of commissioners would be reduced to two-thirds of the number of member states, unless there is a unanimous decision by states to alter this.