Ireland has pulled off a notoriously difficult trick, capturing what is best about 21st century prosperity without discarding the traditions that sustain a healthy society. A St Patrick's Day assessment by Dan O'Brien.

The threat to Europe’s integration project is its legitimacy deficit more than popular rejection of its constitution - and here, referenda are the best means of getting elites and electorates talking to each other about the European Union, says the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Dan O’Brien.

The European Union faces a legitimacy crisis. Elites and publics are moving in different directions. The way to respond is to allow all EU citizens to vote on matters affecting their future, even across national boundaries. The two Irish referenda on the Nice treaty, and those on accession, illustrate the potential of this form of direct democracy to reinvigorate public engagement.