In voting so decisively against the Lisbon treaty last June, Ireland did a great service to its European Union partners. The government’s analysis of the vote, published this week, confirms that one of the key reasons the Irish voted No was that they feared losing “their” European commissioner.

Before a second referendum is held next year – as it surely will be, though Dublin cannot yet say so – EU leaders should give the Irish a guarantee that no member state will lose its voice at the Commission’s top table.