Monday, Mar 15th 2010
Christopher Bickerton | No means no; yes doesn’t mean yes
Bickerton, in this Le Monde Diplomatique article, argues that Ireland’s final yes vote in Lisbon II, and the whole journey of the EU constitution from initial drafting to full ratification, illustates that Europe’s governments value the opinion of their peers more than that of their citizens. [...]
A significant 2/1 majority, on a higher turnout, passed the Lisbon Treaty overturning the decision of June 2008. It is clear that the economic crisis served to shift opinion across the board to a yes vote because people felt that passing the Treaty might boost Ireland’s prospects for economic recovery.
Last year Lisbon was rejected because [...]
Splintered Sunrise | Lisbon and The Cringe
Splintered Sunrise on Lisburn and our ‘cultural cringe’ that identifies Ireland ‘as a dark place of reaction, and England (or latterly “Europe”) as the progressive norm to be aspired to’:
And so it is when advances like the legalisation of divorce or homosexuality – things that loom [...]
With the day that is in it, you have either decided by now how you are going to vote today, have already done so, or are in the final stages of making a decision. So its a good time perhaps to provide a recap of the articles on The Lisbon Treaty which have been written [...]
John O’Brennan | Lisbon: A Communications Failure Among the Irish Political Hierarchy
“The main source of this enduring pattern of communications failure is that European Union policy-making in Ireland takes place in a hierarchical system dominated by senior government ministers and a top echelon of civil servants.”
John O’Brennan, a lecturer in European politics and society [...]
The Lisbon Treaty has won support from the overwhelming majority of Socialist parties across Europe and from the European Trade Union Confederation (which groups together virtually all trade unions across Europe). This support derives both from the general context in which Lisbon has arisen and from specific legal changes that it would bring in.
Regarding the [...]
The following is a statement from Lawyers Against Lisbon
We, the undersigned, have decided to vote “No” on Friday and recommend that our fellow voters do so as well.
We each have slightly different reasons for our position but are agreed on what now follows.
Contrary to a common argument from our opponents, the Treaty is about much [...]
Proinsias De Rossa | The Lisbon Treaty Does Not Threaten Irish People in Any Way
Proinsias De Rossa asks on his blog why No campaigners are lying:
The NO campaigners want us to believe that Lisbon is about euthanasia, abortion, European armies and big states overwhelming smaller ones. Let’s look at the facts. There has been no [...]
I have previously argued here that the military implications of the Lisbon Treaty constitute an argument for a NO vote on 2 October. I now want to argue that the implications of Lisbon for ‘developing countries’ in Africa, Asia and Latin America would be negative - and that this constitutes another strong argument for a [...]
It is no coincidence that the Lisbon Treaty, so strongly opposed by the far-right, has won support from the overwhelming majority of Socialist parties across Europe and from the European Trade Union Confederation (which groups together virtually all trade unions across Europe). The values and objectives set out in it are ones that are shared [...]