Irish Fudge

The Irish Times today released an article headed "Decisive shift in favour of treaty", apparently citing a poll that shows that opinion is shifting in Ireland in favour of the Lisbon Treaty in preparation for their second vote.

What the poll actually asked was whether Irish voters thought that Ireland would vote in favour of the treaty, not how they would vote themselves. So what the poll really shows is that 58% of Irish think that there might be enough of a swing in the next vote to ratify the treaty, not that 58% support the Lisbon Treaty. Presenting this as a shift in support is misleading at best.

It is hardly surprising that people might expect the Irish to vote 'no' in the next referendum. This is what happened after the Nice referendum in 2001; they voted 'no' the first time and when they were made to vote again (as outrageous as that is) with sufficient bribes/concessions, they voted 'yes'. The EU has already begun negotiations to bribe the Irish into voting Yes this time too.

Whether the Irish voters will feel that such 'guarantees' are worth the paper they are written on is another matter, especially once the campaigning on the Treaty begins again. Bearing in mind that the Treaty has already been ratified by most EU governments, the EU can't actually make any changes to the treaty itself without causing every other government to vote on it again. So what are the Irish really getting? Nothing but a generous helping of fudge. Will they fall for it? I hope not.

However, things are different this time, and this is no Nice Treaty. The Constitution/Lisbon Treaty has faced two other referendums already, in France and Holland, where the public there rejected it too. There is a growing feeling across Europe that the EU has lost its way, and no amount of bodging to get the constitution through is going to change that. 

Peter Mandelson, the former unelected European Trade Commissioner, once claimed: "The age of democracy is over. We are now in the post-democratic age". Are these really the people we want deciding the future of Europe? People who don't even believe in the concept of democracy? Is the Lisbon Treaty really the best we can do for the future of Europe?

This is where Libertas comes in. Libertas is offering a whole new future for Europe, not a bedraggled, "post-democratic", unreadable Constitution/Lisbon Treaty bringing about a European superstate that no one other than the unaccountable elites in Brussels wants.

We believe that democracy has to be the fundamental foundation of all cooperation.  If they still don't understand after three 'no' votes that this means that their vision is unwanted by the people of Europe then they have no place being in Government at all.

So when the Irish are forced to vote on exactly the same Treaty once again in a few months time, they will really have two options; vote for an anti-democratic, corrupt, nanny super-state or a positive Libertas future offering democracy, national sovereignty and improved cooperation between nations. Which way do you think they will vote?