votingThe upcoming expansion of the European Union (EU) – which legal advisers expect to unleash a flood of investment work in Central and Eastern European – cleared a key hurdle at the weekend as the Republic of Ireland backed the Nice Treaty.

The results of the 19 October referendum vote by Ireland’s population, which backed ratification of the treaty with a ‘Yes’ vote of 62.9%, clears the biggest obstacle to EU enlargement, which is scheduled to bring 10 new countries to the union.