On July 21 2008, French president Nicolas Sarkozy will visit Ireland for talks on how to overcome the crisis the Irish thrust the European Union into after rejecting referendum for the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.

Sarkozy is scheduled to meet Ireland's prime minister Brian Cowen and other Irish officials, as well as some opponents of the adoption of the EU's latest reform document. The treaty was meant to improve decision-making in the bloc of 27 member states, but was shot down in Ireland, the only country to hold a plebiscite on the issue, over concerns that it took control over too many issues away from national authorities.

On July 1, France assumed the bloc's six-month rotating presidency, with one of the main tasks before the French being finding a way out of this latest institutional impasse. Some three weeks earlier, on June 12, the Irish voted against their country ratifying the Lisbon Treaty.

Last week, Sarkozy stirred controversy in Ireland by saying the Irish would have to hold a second referendum on the ratification of the treaty. The remark has irked politicians in Dublin, where it was seen as an attempt to meddle in domestic affaris, a perception that French politicians have attempted to dispel in recent days.

"What we will do on Monday [June 21] is listen, because we are not visiting in our capacity as the French presidency [of the EU]. We will listen to the parties, to civil society, to the intellectuals... To say that this can be fixed quickly is not true. It would take time," French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner told with Spanish daily El Pais in an interview published on July 20.

Kouchner will accompany Sarkozy on his one-day trip, during which they will be met with posters reading "Sarkozy, respect the Lisbon vote! No means no", the Associated Press reported.

Irish politicians have privately blamed both Sarkozy and Kouchner before and after the referendum, believing that inopportune remarks by the French duo have helped strengthen opposition to the treaty, the AP said.