European leaders have given the Irish government four months to try to find a way out of the crisis precipitated by Ireland?s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in a referendum last week.

The Irish refusal last week to support a new organizational treaty for the 27-member European Union has thrown the block into confusion.

The defeat of a treaty to consolidate the European Union?s power shows that many Europeans feel alienated from it.

In a significant setback for efforts to reform the European Union?s unwieldy institutions, a referendum on a revised treaty was voted down in Ireland.

In a significant setback for efforts to reform the European Union?s unwieldy institutions, a referendum on a revised treaty appears to have been rejected.

An Irish official conceded that the referendum on a revised European Union treaty was likely to be rejected.

A referendum in Ireland will determine the destiny of a treaty governing the way the 27-nation European Union conducts its business and presents itself to the world.

Ireland voted in a referendum on the European Union?s Lisbon Treaty, a painstakingly negotiated pact that would be damaged or destroyed by an Irish rejection.

The treaty has the support of every government in Europe as well as most of the Irish establishment, but an 11th-hour surge of opposition has proved unexpectedly persuasive.

The treaty has the support of every government in Europe as well as most of the Irish establishment, but an 11th-hour surge of opposition has proved unexpectedly persuasive.