IRISH REFERENDUM EU LISBON 
REFORM TREATY
"We can no longer assume the Irish people will take the benefits of European integration as given" - Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said after Ireland rejected the Nice Treaty in 2001.

So when in early April this year the Irish government announced a referendum to ratify the EU Lisbon Reform Treaty there was a warning from the past of what might happen. The electorate of Ireland - alone in Europe in having a chance to vote on the Lisbon Treaty - had the power to de-rail the entire EU constitutional reform process. It was clear that the event had the potential to send shock waves through EU politics and that a Eurovision News operation would be necessary in Dublin. We had two months to prepare before the vote on June 12.

 Both the Irish authorities and the national broadcaster, RTE, can be relied upon to be generous and hospitable to the international press corps. Dublin Castle would be the site for the announcement of the referendum result. The Castle management - with which Eurovision News has had very cordial relations for many years - immediately agreed to help mount an operation. RTE offered their usual excellent  cooperation and expertise.

By April 24 the key broadcast requirements for the event had been worked out and the operation was announced on the Eurovision website. The usual questions applied: how big to make the operation, how much would it cost and how many broadcasters would come? The historical precedent seemed to supply part of the answer but in the news business there are no guarantees.

A large camera platform was to be built by Dublin Castle in their main courtyard with workspaces nearby.  We decided on four satellite paths with four standup (in-vision) positions, workspaces and access to available pool material. The pool at Dublin Castle came from an RTE OB and they decided to make this coverage - of the overall result - freely available to all broadcasters.

The pool service to the workspaces had to take into account differing requests: aspect ratio in 4:3 or 16:9 and audio in analogue or digital format.  In addition we made the pool available for viewing on the camera platform, which was 400 metres away and connected by fibre.

So the plan was in place.  But despite the importance of the story early bookings were sparse. Some broadcasters, particularly those with special requirements, had clearly thought carefully about their requirements and made their special requests known early enough to suit their individual needs.  For example ARTE in Strasburg immediately commissioned Eurovision to help produce a two-camera operation so they could present two special programmes live from Dublin. But for the most part the traditional bulletin bookings were slow in coming, a complicating factor in correctly scaling the facilities being  constructed to the actual need.