Ireland is going to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in early October 2009 after the leaders of the 27 EU member states agreed on certain opt-outs for the country.

During the EU Council Summit in Brussels Thursday and Friday, the EU leaders agreed on a series of legal guarantees stating that the treaty will not change Ireland's taxation, abortion laws or military neutrality.

Ireland's key political leaders have declared they believed a new referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in October 2009 would likely lead to its approval, BGNES reported. Thus, the Treaty could come into force as early as November 2009.

Ireland's Prime Minister, Brian Cowen, and the leader of the opposition Labor Party, Eamon Gilmore, stated that such guarantees would help assuage the concerns of the Irish voters regarding the Lisbon Treaty that they rejected in a June 2008 referendum.

"The protocol will in no way alter the relationship between the EU and its member states. The protocol will clarify but not change either the content of the application of the Treaty of Lisbon," the EU leaders have declared regarding the opt-out guarantees for Ireland that they have agreed upon.

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