Ireland Gets a Second Chance Referendum
Posted by jonathanfryer on Tuesday, 29th September, 2009
With just three days to go before Irish voters give their second verdict on the Lisbon Treaty in a national referendum, the polls are predicting a comfortable, if not landslide, victory for the Yes campaign. To the dismay of most of the political parties in Eire (though to the undisguised glee of UKIP and the Conservatives in Britain), the Irish voted No last year — a substantial proportion of them because they felt they didn’t know enough about the treaty. Some people, like millionaire Declan Ganley, were and still remain opposed in principle to the advancement of the European project. But many others were cajoled into voting No by being told (wrongly) that the Republic would have to allow abortion and a raft of other things which (rightly) in fact remain a matter of national, not European competence.
So why is a Yes vote much more likely this time? Partly it is because the other 26 member states have given Ireland a few concessions, notably guaranteeing that there will always be an Irish member of th European Commission. But mainly it is because people are better informed this time and they have been shaken by the economic and financial crisis that makes it perilous to be marginalised from the rest of Europe (a message that David Cameron and William Hague should take to heart). The Yes campaign has been much better this time, employing some strong, simple messages such as: the choice is between ruin and recovery; on October 2nd vote Yes — Put Ireland First. So despite the fact that Brian Cowen’s lacklustre government is currently deeply unpopular, and the bumptious Michael O’Leary of Ryanair has somewhat crassly offered one million free flights if there is a Yes vote, there is room for optimism that Ireland will now enable the European Union to make necessary reforms to move forward in confidence in a world in which greater European integration is needed more than ever.
pmauroy said
The Lisbon Treaty is a rat trap that puts people in cages.
It is vital to delay the possible ratification.
We absolutely need time to inform our citizens about the perversity of a system that abandons the democratic process and derived a forced march to the satisfaction of powerful special interests to the detriment of general interest.
We need time to warn people about the realities of the Bilderberg meetings, the Trilateral Commission, the Council of Foreign Relations, etc. …
All these circles undemocratic working under cover for decades and grow to a new world order where people no longer have their say.
We need time to allow people to become aware of the real objectives of the New World Order.
The treaty must be thoroughly amended to give latitude to the democratic expression:
> Freedom of expression and opposition should be more explicitly encouraged.
> The fight against the illegal actions of lobbying – from financial groups, ideological and industrial – must be clearly
> The fight against the lies and corruption of the powerful must be included as a right of every citizen and sanctions of dismissal and disqualification should be the rule.
> Transparency of debates and votes in Parliament must be total (video recording sessions available to every citizen, minutes of meetings available to all citizens)
The Lisbon Treaty is not in this sense and for this reason it should not be ratified.