Next month, our No 3 son is marrying an Irish Catholic girl from Macroom, named Adrienne. Can't wait. I wish it was this weekend. I've never felt so enthused about welcoming a citizen of the glorious Emerald Isle into our family. A big No from the Irish, and a big Yes from me. So went out for supper tonight and celebrated with a pint of Guinness. Actually, Adrienne was very welcome before her countrymen delivered the most wonderful boost for democracy today, when Ireland rejected the 'EU Constitutional Treaty' otherwise known as the Lisbon Treaty.
But they still don't get it. They still don't realise that its not whats in these treaties that really matters. Its that the EU is so out of touch, and undemocratic that its lost trust. And the commission is so consumed by itself, and so arrogant in its certainty that its sphere of influence must become ever greater. Democracy depends on engaging with the people, and the Commission is so bl**** certain of its rightness that the people don't count anymore. Well, today the people did count - and those who counted their votes found that they do not like it.
Today's No vote was a truly astonishing result. Ireland was probably the 27th most unlikely country to say No. All the mainstream parties and all the media were reassuring and campaigning for a Yes vote. To begin with, a Yes vote looked a foregone conclusion. But the more the people thought about it the more they disliked the way that they were being bullied. I don't suppose that tonight's vote will make much difference. The EU will just implement most of the clauses in the Lisbon Treaty anyway. And if it carries on, the organisation which was set up to foster trade and understanding amongst the peoples of Europe in the 1950s will become increasingly held in contempt. That pint of Guinness still tastes good.
3 comments:
The Irish have done it now!
What next I wonder?
Anxious times in Brussels.
Time to re-think Lisbon maybe?
Hellboy should tell Gordon Brown that "Red means stop!"
Ireland has voted against the Lisbon Treaty, Brown should have let the British public vote on it too, and had Brits got to vote it would have been a resounding RED LIGHT!
anon and Christopher - My guess is that almost everything in the Treaty will be approved anyway, and whay isn't approved will be incorporated in another treaty in a couple of years time. Charles Moore in today's Telegraph is a good read on this.
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