The NO side succeeded in portraying a No vote as a vote for the status quo, with no negative consequences, and thus a risk free way of giving the elite a kick up the back side.  Sinn Fein explicitly campaigned on the basis of negotiating a better deal for Ireland - I.e they were not against the Treaty per se - just that they would be better at negotiating a deal more favourable to Ireland's interests.

It is the job of an opposition party to hold the Government to account - and implicitly or explicitly claim that they would do a better job if given the chance.  In this case the fact that there is no prospect of Sinn Fein being in Government in the foreseeable future also relieved them of the responsibility and risk that they might actually end up having to do so and deliver on their promise.

My guess that -after a lot of huffing and puffing - a new referendum will be held next June at the same time as the EU Parliament and Local Government elections.  This will have the effect of:

1. Increasing turnout still further
   
2. Allowing negative sentiment to be expressed in terms of who is elected to the Parliament and local councils - mid term elections are a traditional vehicle for protest votes that don't actually change the Government.
   
3. The negative consequences oh a second NO vote will be much more clearly spelled out - e.g. a two speed EU, enlargement without Ireland into the first tier, a sense of being left behind and no longer at the heart of the project.

By next June  the national economic situation will be much more serious still.  People will start to fell nervous that perhaps we need the EU to be more effective and dynamic after all - and have mnuch less faith in Ireland's ability to solve its problems on its own.

The incoming EU Parliament could be elected with a specific mandate to review the "democratic deficit" within the EU and perhaps write a new simplified constitution with greater direct electoral accountability throughout the EU.

After all, the left component of the NO vote often wanted greater EU integration not less - and complained that the EU wasn't doing enough on the environment, human rights etc.

So one strategy could be to split the left and right components of the NO vote by allowing this to become a possibility in a future Treaty.  The problem is that the Right/nationalist component of the NO vote probably outnumbered the left component by (say) 5:1, and so long as the debate is conducted on purely nationalist terms, the EU ideal just cannot win.

"It's a mystery to me - the game commences, For the usual fee - plus expenses, Confidential information - it's in my diary..."