EU to push back Lisbon treaty solution to the end of the year

The EU is unlikely to agree concrete solutions to the institutional impasse created by the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty before the end of the year, the bloc's initial discussion on the issue has shown.

Prior to the top-level meeting in Brussels on Thursday, some member states had been pushing to have Dublin present a plausible exit strategy to the crisis by the next EU leaders' meeting in October.

But Irish foreign minister Micheal Martin poured cold water on the idea.