The shock decision by a majority of Irish voters to veto the Lisbon Treaty that replaces the junked EU constitution may not be a complete snub to the idea of a Greater Europe.

The referendum was exploited by a number of single issue groups that had little connection to pan-European  politics, such as abortion, but everything to do with populist sentiments.

Taxpayers from the rich European nations that form the core of the Union have helped made the Irish rich for the first time in living memory. Billions of dollars, helped by pro-business policies, such as low taxes, lifted the Irish economy from a basketcase to the most prosperous and fast-growing in Europe.

Ireland now has more billionaires per capita than almost any other country, barring a few tax havens, so the successful No vote (53 per cent to 47 per cent) is seen as being ungrateful and hypocritical, now Ireland is a funder of the new EU members.

As the only country to put the treaty to a public vote, Ireland may be feeling lonely. But the same fate was likely if other European nations had followed suit. Dutch and French voters had rejected an earlier EU constitutional treaty by referendum.

As for the reaction elsewhere in the EU, the International Herald Tribune reports it has been low-key and has not affected the euro, the major success story of a unified Europe.

On the downside, the EU has created a huge bureaucracy and has been prepared to run roughshod over members' political sovereignty. The Lisbon Treaty is aimed at overcoming some of these objections and to streamlining the executive powers of Brussels.

The recent swing to the right in France, Germany and Italy has changed the complexion of EU politics for the better. These governments are more committed to a single Western alliance with the US and to reforms in trade and labour laws.

The restrictive socialist policies of the past are being swept away as the established EU economies seek rejuvenation and have to compete with the emerging post-communist economies of Eastern Europe.

For New Zealand, the EU is more than just a economic entity. It is the main standard bearer, with North America, of democratic values to which New Zealand (and Australia) adhere.

As the foreign minister, Winston Peters, put it in last week's Europa Lecture: "It has been said by Europeans that New Zealand fulfils all the requirements for EU membership apart from our geographical location.

"We need to do everything possible to neutralise that one barrier, and indeed to capitalise on the benefits New Zealand’s location can offer Europe – not as a virtual outpost upholding European values in the Asia-Pacific region, but through our well-developed trading links with Asia."

The talk was important for recognising the EU not just as one of this country's leading markets but also for the close ties on a number of fronts, not least as a source of migrants.

It is not widely known that New Zealand and the EU are about to sign a scientific and technological development agreement; a customs co-operation agreement is on the way; an air services agreement is likely to follow; and problems with wine exports are being sorted.

Some of these moves could lead to a path that gives New Zealand a de facto membership that could easily be widened to include freer movement and better rights to residency for New Zealanders in Europe (and Europeans in New Zealand).

If the Irish vote does slow the adoption of the Lisbon reforms – which will also give the EU a united foreign service a fulltime presidency rather than rotating six-monthly one – it will prove New Zealand an opportunity to push its case.

The government is committed to ramping up New Zealand's presence in Europe, starting with a new embassy in Stockholm to service the business leading Nordic countries, and more staff in Madrid and London. The new EU members in eastern Europe will also get some trade representation.

So it the Irish are serious in wanting out, which may not be the real message that was sent out in the refrendum, why not offer to take their place.

After all, as Mr Peters says, the only barrier is geographic. Then we could really get on with building better roads, broadband, education, healthcare and other services the Europeans take for granted.