What is going to happen now after the Irish No vote? I would expect the European Union to find a way to implement the Lisbon treaty, leaving Ireland potentially isolated within the EU. I would also expect another Irish referendum at some point, probably in the first half of next year.

I personally found last week's Irish No vote shocking, not in terms of what it means for the EU, but what it says about Ireland. Ireland is one of the EU's great success stories. Dublin has become one of the great European cities. Both Ireland and the EU should have celebrated their relationship. The No vote leaves the country with exactly two alternatives. One is a humiliating U-turn, consisting of a Yes vote in a second referendum without a material change of circumstances. The other is that Ireland could lose its full EU membership if the second referendum produces another No victory. Ireland's citizens would send the country back to the economic Dark Ages, from whence it emerged only a few decades ago.