Ireland holds key vote on EU treaty

Irish citizens voted Thursday on whether to accept or reject the European Union's new reform treaty, and the result could damage or destroy the painstakingly negotiated pact.

The Lisbon Treaty seeks to reshape EU institutions and powers to cope with the bloc's near-doubling in size over the past four years from 15 to 27 nations with 495 million people. It contains many of the same reform plans as the EU's previous master plan _ a constitution that French and Dutch voters rejected in 2005.

This time, only Ireland's 3.05 million registered voters pose a serious threat to ratification, because the other 26 members are requiring approval only through their national …