Irish PM says EU must help treaty solution

By Jonathan Saul

DUBLIN (Reuters) - The European Union must help find a solution on how to move forward with the bloc's reform treaty after Irish voters rejected the document, Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said on Sunday.

European leaders have said they will continue to pursue ratifying the treaty despite Friday's resounding "No" vote in the only country of the bloc's 27 to hold a referendum.

Cowen, who took over as prime minister last month, said there was "no obvious solution before us.

"As things stand if there is no change, if there are no political developments, if we can't come up with any solutions then obviously this treaty does not proceed," he told public broadcaster RTE.

The treaty, which replaces an EU constitution rejected by Dutch and French voters in 2005 and designed to overhaul the bloc's creaking institutions, is unlikely to come into force as planned on January 1 2009 after the "No" vote. But its supporters in Europe are determined to rescue it.

Cowen is expected to be pressed by EU counterparts at a crisis summit in Brussels next week on how he plans to tackle the setback, including whether a second vote is an option.

"I want Europe to try and provide some of the solution as well as just suggesting that it is just Ireland's problem alone," Cowen said. "Although Ireland has a position here that we have to try and deal with."

Cowen said he wanted to avoid a situation where Ireland was left as the only member state not having ratified the treaty.