Last year I voted no to Lisbon and despite reading about the controlling superstate in “Vulcan’s Hammer”, as a consequence of the fictional Lisbon Laws I’ll be voting yes today.
More than anything else, the “No to Lisbon” campaign has convinced me to vote that way. Thanks.
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I may be misguided, but I’m guessing that Ireland will have to give the EU another NO tomorrow. If you have further views, let me know....
In "The Irish Times" on Saturday, Derek Scally wrote movingly Since Ireland’s No to Lisbon, the Irish in Germany have been made to feel like ingrates. Wherever you go, the same insinuation:"Three decades of EU cash and then you give us the finger."...The fact is that, when explaining why the first Lisbon referendum fell, there are four million Irish people in the EU who believe the complicated version and 82 million Germans who don’t. We are on the wrong side of the argument, and not just with the Germans. Next week, nearly half a billion people across the EU will reach their own conclusions about the second vote. If Ireland votes No again, there is little we can do to stop them thinking that we took the money and ran. This is where the Lisbon debate in Ireland misses the point...
You have to admit these are both great and show what a little imagination can do in political advertising....
My negative attitude to the Lisbon Treaty is connected with the issue of Turkey's possible accession, but not in the obvious way.There are quite a few good reasons to be opposed to, or at least very sceptical of, the accession of Turkey to the EU. I am not going to discuss them, or even the very persuasive arguments from the other side, in this article. I explain why below.Like Ireland's "bail-out" for its banks, or its cutting of public sector pay, Turkey's accession may just be "one of those things" that have to be accepted (albeit at a high political price) by those who have played no active part in creating the circumstances that have left no other reasonable options open.For nearly 50 years now, the leaders of what is now the EU have held open the prospect of full membership to...
If being opposed to a change in the laws constituent of the EU means that I am an opponent of the EU, can I not oppose any change to our own Constitution in future without being labelled as anti-national...
This PDF document, accessible through the Bonde link on my compendium of Lisbon Treaty Material, clearly and most readably shows, article by article - but only a few words for each - the changes to be wrought by the Treaty. Very usefully, it also identifies the elements of the EU Constitution document which have been dropped or changed....
Occasionally, one hears stories of people being told by their continental European friends that it is felt that Ireland is "letting its friends in Europe down" by contemplating rejection of the Lisbon Treaty. The purveyors of these stories tend, in my experience, to regard themselves as modern, sophisticated people, with a cosmopolitan outlook.One of the core values of the European Union is a democratic approach to political issues. Ireland's constitution specifies that its People are sovereign, and a democratic approach requires that a change to its system of government cannot be made without its express consent. Further, such consent requires that a proper democratic debate take place first.Democratic debate requires a full exploration of the advantages and disadvantages of the change...
Campaigners for ratification of the Lisbon Treaty suggest that, as Finance Minister Brian Lenihan put itWhen we vote in the referendum on the Lisbon treaty on 2 October next, I hope no one forgets that the European Central Bank stood behind this country during its time of greatest need.I am grateful. Absolutely and unreservedly so. We are so fortunate that we have a central bank for the Euro-zone that not only can fulfil but is fulfilling one of the core competences of a central bank.Mind you, what is usually left out of these discussions is a recognition that, if Ireland had not joined the Eurozone in the first place, many of our banking problems would either not have arisen, or would have been of a different, probably less serious, character. However, that is not a criticism of the ECB,...
A hand-picked sample of 66 economists, including an undisclosed number of its own staff, failed to endorse "independent" consultancy Indecon's thesis, echoing political party posters on hoardings across the land, that a positive result in next month's referendum would lead to a Land of Milk and Honey an increase in Ireland's export earnings.For details, including other tendentious presentations of the survey results, and comments by me, read the article here which includes a link to the report. (PDF)...
With the re-run referendum barely a month away now, I have updated the RSS feeds and links to relevant web material in the Lisbon Treaty Referendum section of this...
Around a year ago I was reading Vulcan’s Hammer when I came upon something that rattled me. At the time the (first) Lisbon Treaty was about to be voted on so everyone was talking about Lisbon this, Lisbon that, and what it all meant, and how nobody knew what it all meant, etc etc.
Well, in Vulcan’s Hammer, written by Philip K. Dick in 1960, the world has become a totalitarian society ruled by mysterious computers given absolute power in 1993 by legislation called “The Lisbon Laws”. It didn’t affect how I voted of course but the naming coincidence was starling!
Here’s an extract from the book. Anti Lisbon Treaty folk better get your tinfoil hats on!
Mrs. Parker made a note on her chart. “Correct.” She felt pride at the children’s alert...
I’ll probably vote Yes the next time the Lisbon Treaty referendum is run. Who cares about democracy when the country’s in the sh*tter? They’ll only make us do it all over again and slap us around a bit first with the IMF if we say no a second time.
Shot on the hill leading down from Sunday’s well to the North Mall.
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Image via WikipediaAccording to RTÉ, Colm Burke MEP (FG - Ireland South) wants us to vote on Lisbon Treaty in April. But how can we??? The European Council have not agreed the text of the "necessary guarantees" that will, supposedly, get us to change our minds on the treaty.Colm seams to be showing the effects of working in Brussels, you lose your connection to the people and only want to get your name in the paper, especially considering it is an election.While Burke has a point when he says "It is not alarmist to state that were we not inside the Union our economic plight would mirror that of Iceland, with double digit interest rates and reliance on an International Monetary Fund bail-out"But then he goes wrong again by suggesting the Cownen, Kenny and Gilmore should work together, but...
Image via WikipediaIts been awhile since the last poll, but RTÉ report on a poll being Published in tomorrow's Sunday Business Post.The headline figures are:Fine Gael 33% (-2)Fianna Fail 28% (-2Labour 14% (NC)Greens 8% (+3)Sinn Fein 9% (+1)Ind/Others 8% (NC)The opinion poll also asked a question on the Lisbon Treaty. 58% of people back the treaty according to the poll. 28% are against and 14% don't now.It is strange that in a week that some leading no campaigners claimed the treaty was flawed due to a case being LODGED against the treaty in Germany that the majority in Ireland come out for in it in a poll. Yes you read that right the lodging of a case means something is flawed according to the Peoples Movement (PDF). That is like saying that if someone is charged with a crime then they...
A letter-writer in Saturday's Irish Times is worried that the Lisbon Treaty will not affect the
continued application of the provisions of the Irish Constitution in
relation to the right to life, education and the familyYes, worried. Agitated he is, as in their different ways, are the newspaper's contributors Sarah Carey and Fintan O'Toole, that their fellow Irish citizens should keep any power to make law for themselves.Neither democracy nor subsidiarity has value in their eyes and for the letter-writer even the "European project" comes second to other priorities:One interpretation of this wording could mean that we in Ireland will
never get full equality for same-sex couples or indeed legalised civil
partnership. If this is the case, I shall be voting No in the second
referendum, no...
So, it’s confirmed. The Irish didn’t vote the way the Government or the EU wanted and we have to vote again. I wonder if there will be a third referendum if we dare to vote No again?
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Despite the fact that we agreed on how to vote on the Lisbon Treaty, there are not many things that I find attractive in Declan Ganley.The feature that I probably find least attractive is his political amateurism and his unsophisticated tendency, very reminiscent of the British euro-sceptics, to see the "evil hand of Brussels" behind every question that he finds uncomfortable.Some of his other unattractive debating faults can be seen at work here.However, it is quite clear that "they" are indeed out to get him. Having, as they see it, single-handedly sabotaged "the project" by his intervention in the Lisbon referendum, and having managed, as they see it, to get the EU's most euro-philic electorate (see statistics quoted here) to deliver a perverse decision, the forces ranged on the other...
When neither buyers nor sellers understand the ideas being peddled, but go ahead anyway because the experts have (allegedly) "signed-off" on the calculations, it will end not just in tears but in cataclysm beyond...
I have read economist Brendan Lynch's piece in Friday's "The Irish Times" carefully, and yet cannot find a single sentence with which I disagree.The crucial passage is this oneThe Government would be foolish if it did not remind voters that we would never have achieved our current level of living standards without EMU participation thanks to low interest rates, having a world currency and the additional IFSC projects that EMU participation helped bring to Ireland.
Having to play by the EMU rules is an acceptable long term price to pay for EMU’s economic benefits
The writer might have added that membership of the single currency area attracted more than just IFSC projects. If he were more politically-minded, he might also have mentioned the huge gains in convenience for Irish tourists...
As usual, the commentary, this time on the final report from the Irish government's commissioned research into the meaning of voters' rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in The Economist's on-line column, Certain Ideas of Europe, is incisive and intelligent. I urge you to read it, and indeed to read the research findings themselves.Those findings are full of fascinating gems for students of Irish politics, and are also relevant to the wider European polity (inchoate though that be). I expect to be bringing some of them here to examine and admire.Meanwhile, I give you this extract from Certain Ideas of Europe:...56% of Irish voters thought that the treaty would bring about more efficient decision-making in the EU, and 61% thought it would strengthen Europe's role in the world. Those are,...
The Telegraph are saying this is the likely day for our second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. I must say, I like the name of the briefing paper: The Solution to the Irish Problem
An internal EU briefing paper, entitled The Solution to the Irish Problem, predicts that Dublin will accede to the re-run at a meeting of Europe’s leaders on October 15.
Ireland has been under French and German pressure to hold a second vote and Autumn 2009 has emerged as the favoured date among officials and diplomats ahead of the European Union summit on the future of the Lisbon Treaty next month.
Ireland has refused to deny that a second referendum could occur, following the ‘No’ vote in June.
The document has been written by an influential group of French officials, called Le Amis du...
Michael Hyatt, book publisher and fellow-twitterer, is probably not "my kind of guy". For one thing, he is a golfer. For another, he is a fan of Sarah Palin.Nonetheless, he is a thoughtful and successful man who often writes insightfully on his website. His latest article, entitled "Defending Your Brand Online" is one that I heartily commend to you (and, remembering Friday's post, to the EU...
Foreign Minister Micheal Martin says that the Georgian crisis has made EU governments more determined to push ahead with the Lisbon Treaty. Expect more stories along the same linesFollowing a disaster of Caucasian proportions in this year's All -Ireland Hurling Final, Waterford politicians from the major parties have said that the result shows the need for Lisbon Treaty as, er, obviously the, er, abuse of its dominant position by Kilkenny required more rigorous enforcement of European competition law in the hurling market.Asked to identify which part of the Treaty would help in this regard, a spokesman said that Europe had been good for Ireland, just as Ireland had been good for Europe, and, er, Ireland's competition legislation was largely modelled on the provisions of the Treaty of, er...
They still don't "get-it". Locked in symbiotic obsolescence with the media that have served it so well, the EU elite is nonplussed by the Internet.The Irish Times has obtained a copy of what is apparently an internal Commission memorandum addressing the role of the media, as broadly understood, in the outcome of the vote.The story is here, while the full document is here.Looking at the document on its own terms, and allowing for its understandably biassed point of view, it is a fair enough survey of the "old-media" marketplace. Especially valuable, not least given the demographic analysis provided earlier of the composition of the majority, is the reminder that the Irish media space is populated to a very significant extent now by "Irishised" (not my neologism, I hasten to say) UK...
Irish MEP Kathy Sinnott and other MEPs filmed in Brussells at 7am on a Friday morning clocking in with bags packed. Oh dear.
Kathy Sinnott, fresh faced and angry after 7 hours work overnight.
Makes me wonder if I should have voted yes to Lisbon. Kathy Sinnott was looking for a No vote (no, she didn’t influence me) but perhaps the Lisbon Treaty would have stopped this sort of thing. Oh wait! Who am I kidding? Of course it’ll continue!
(via someone on #linux who mentioned the video)
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With a tip of the hat to Newmark's Door for introducing me to the Overheard in The Office website, I offer you this humourous interlude from the latter site:
Customer Sales Representative, on speakerphone: And where would you like this order shipped ?Secretary: 123 Main St.*, Los Alamos, New Mexico.CSR : We don't ship out of the country.Secretary: That's fine, but this address is in the country.CSR : No, you said to ship it to New Mexico.Secretary: Yes, New Mexico is a state in the US.CSR : Sorry, but we can't ship out of the U.S.
Secretary: Do you have a supervisor I can talk to, please ?[Long pause.]
CSR supervisor: This is Tim. Can I help you ?Secretary: I hope so, Tim. Your employee doesn't seem to understand that New Mexico is a state in the United States, and so refuses to ship...
Sigh. An awful rant today from Mr Waters. Will he ever learn?
A survey of 2,000 voters conducted by the European Commission immediately after the vote revealed that more than 70 per cent of those who voted No believed the treaty could easily be renegotiated.
This poll also found that many people who did not understand the treaty voted No; that the overwhelming majority of women voted No; that young people voted No by a margin of two to one; and that immigration (ie, xenophobic sentiment) was a significant factor in the No vote.
The entire basis for his argument is in EC poll that the Irish Times reported on Wednesday:
Why did you vote no? (only one option)
Dont understand /not familiar 40%
Protect Irish identity 20%
Dont trust politicians/Govt policies 17%
Protect neutrality 10%
Keep...
This is not to say that everything in the treaty is bad. It would have improved the institutional machinery in Brussels, sorted out a muddle in foreign-policy making and brought in a fairer system of voting by EU members. But these are not the sorts of changes to set voters alight. And in truth, few EU governments or institutions are genuine enthusiasts for the treaty as such (Germany, which would gain voting weight, and the European Parliament, which would win extra powers, are two exceptions). Most simply wanted to get it out of the way and move on to issues more interesting than the institutional navel-gazing that has preoccupied the EU for too long.
After the Irish no, that is precisely what they should now do. The treaty should be buried so that the EU can focus on more urgent...
I promised the other day to explain why I was "almost" able to accept the QMV changes, the loss of a Commissioner for part of the time and that there was no threat to Irish neutrality. Unfortunately, I found the second part of the explanation for my vote so difficult to write that I forgot my promise. I remedy that now.Neutrality:I am persuaded that the so-called "triple-lock" does protect Irish neutrality. However, as I voted really as a European on European issues, I am still a bit uneasy at the eagerness of other member states to emphasise the military aspect of the Union. Indeed, there continues to be confusion in the minds of many, especially in Mittel- and Eastern Europe, between NATO and the EU;Loss of Commissioner: To be accurate, this battle was lost in the Nice referendum....