EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Parts of the Lisbon Treaty might be passed by the Irish lower chamber without a referendum, said Prime Minister Brian Cowen on Monday night (1 September) while in Brussels for an EU summit on the Georgia crisis.

Mr Cowen sees this as an option for his government after the No vote on the Lisbon Treaty in June. But he rejected as "speculation" any discussion at this stage on how the government will proceed, according to the Irish Independent newspaper.

Prime Minister Cowen believes parts of the Lisbon Treaty can be passed without a referendum

"The advice to government was that a referendum was required. We put the usual, general question to people and it was rejected," Cowen said while speaking to reporters, adding that his government was putting together plans for cross-party discussions on the future of the treaty.

The Irish premier and his foreign affairs minister also informed some of their European counterparts present at the EU summit that the Irish government was set to receive the results of its research on the referendum defeat, results that would be reported back to the European Council in October.