I guess most people know as much about the Lisbon Treaty as they do the offside rule in football. And care just as little.

However, the implications of the vote in Ireland on 2 October are crucial as they would establish a president and foreign minister for the EU, as well as transferring a swathe of powers to Brussels.

The Irish rejected the Lisbon Treaty in a referendum last year and, in true democratic style, are being asked to reconsider and vote again.

The Treaty has to be approved by all 27 member states before it can come into effect and is intended to make the larger European Union "more democratic, more  transparent and more efficient".  If it is rejected by Ireland again, it could be scuppered. Other countries also have to ratify it, including The Czech Republic, Germany and Poland. Their eyes are firmly on the Irish decision.

I can’t see David Cameron holding a referendum on this if he wins the next election; I’m sure he would have shown his hand by now if this was his intention. Yet according to a poll in the Sunday Telegraph, 70% of those questioned want a vote, even if the treaty becomes law.

Intriguingly, Europe doesn’t get a mention in the Conservative Party Conference programme which starts three days after the Irish vote.

It is disappointing that Conservative MEPs have not been given a platform to speak about their new group, the European and Conservative Reformists Group, most probably because the referendum and Europe is such a divisive – and potentially explosive topic – which needs to be avoided there.

But it obviously is going to be talked about and this would have been the ideal time and place for David Cameron or William Hague to declare their intentions on the referendum, one way or the other.

*Pic shows pro Treaty support courtesy of Young Fine Gael, the youth section of Ireland’s Fine Gael Party.