Britannia Radio

The first piece is armtwisting of the Irish by a former prime-
minister and now  EU ambassador to the USA.  The EU's flunkey has to 
think of his masters and not his fellow countrymen.  It's written in 
his contract  !!

Things have gone from Utopia to gloom in such a short time in 
Ireland.  The reason they hit the buffers financially in Ireland 
before anyone else was that being in the Euro was a dreadful risk for 
that country .  The ‘one-size-fits-all currency didn’t fit Ireland 
and “BOOM!”

xxxxxxxxxxx cs
=======================
IRISH INDEPENDENT   31.10.08
Bruton calls for new Lisbon referendum

    By Michael Brennan Political Correspondent

FORMER Taoiseach John Bruton has come out in favour of holding a 
second referendum on the "unreadable" Lisbon Treaty.
He became the most senior political figure since Junior Minister for 
Europe Dick Roche to make the call, in an appearance at the newly 
formed Oireachtas Lisbon sub-committee.

Mr Bruton, now the EU's ambassador to the US, said he favoured a re-
run of the referendum with better information provided because a lot 
of voters did not understand the treaty.
"It is fair to say that the Lisbon Treaty was written in such a 
fashion to make it unreadable," he said.

However, he did not suggest a time for Taoiseach Brian Cowen and his 
Government to hold such a referendum, after the first was rejected 
last June by a 53pc majority.
"The timing of that is a matter for fine political judgement, best 
made by those living in the country, and I'm not one of those," he said.

A spokesman for Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said that Mr Bruton's 
view on a second referendum was a personal one and that no decision 
on the party's position would be made until the Lisbon sub-committee 
had concluded its work.

Mr Bruton also called for the Oireachtas to pass legislation to 
clarify if future EU treaties would need to be put to a referendum in 
the first place.
Baffled
"It should set out when a referendum is necessary on an EU treaty in 
Irish law, and when it is not," he said.

His call drew an angry response from Sinn Fein MEP Mary Lou McDonald, 
who accused him of being part of the "political choreography" for the 
re-run of the Lisbon Treaty.

Mr Bruton also told the committee that Americans he had spoken to had 
been "baffled" by the Lisbon Treaty 'No' vote; that it could have a 
"psychological impact" on investors who believed the country had lost 
its clout in Europe; and that it had resulted in no Irish person 
being put on two important EU committees.

Mr Bruton gave nine reasons why the Lisbon Treaty was worth saving, 
including its provisions to improve co-operation on cross border crime.

He told TDs and senators that every crime in their constituencies had 
an international dimension, whether it was drugs (imported from 
abroad), weapons (imported from abroad) or the proceeds (often lodged 
in a secret bank account abroad).

But Mr Bruton said the Government had lost its best populist argument 
during the campaign by "opting out" of the crime and justice co-
operation elements in the treaty.
- Michael Brennan Political Correspondent

===================
REUTERS   30.10.08
Ireland may have to revisit EU treaty "No"

    By Andras Gergely   

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland may have to reconsider its rejection of 
the European Union's reform treaty as there will be little room for 
renegotiation after 26 other member states ratify it, Prime Minister 
Brian Cowen said on Thursday.

Ireland's "No" vote in its June referendum derailed a replacement for 
an EU constitution already rejected by French and Dutch voters in 
2005 and humiliated Cowen, who had entered office in May and 
campaigned in favour of the treaty.

Since the vote, Ireland became the first euro zone country to enter 
recession and upset many European partners with a unilateral plan to 
guarantee 400 billion euros (316 billion pounds) worth of bank debt 
to shore up its financial system.

The Irish government has promised a plan of action on the Lisbon 
reform treaty by an EU summit in December, by which time EU partners 
may offer to address some of the worries which contributed to the 
rejection of the treaty, Cowen said.

"We need to come back and say to the Irish people honestly, here is 
what is on offer from the European Union, do we wish to revisit this 
question or do we not?," Cowen told a business conference.
"If 26 other partners want to proceed in a certain direction and 
we ... are not going to respond in a positive and constructive way to 
address that issue, then there are consequences," Cowen said.

Cowen said people mainly worried about Ireland's ability to set its 
taxes, to keep a permanent seat on the European Commission and to 
maintain its military neutrality, though many voted "No" due to lack 
of information.

"(European partners) indicated they can be helpful in some 
respects ... but they're also making it very clear they don't have an 
interest in re-ratifying or amending the treaty in a substantive 
way," Cowen told reporters at the conference.

Hit by the global credit crunch and the abrupt end of a decade-long 
construction boom at home, Ireland expects to break EU budget deficit 
rules next year by more than double the limit.

Tens of thousands of students and pensioners have protested in Dublin 
in the past week against spending cuts and tax rises introduced in 
the 2009 budget, with a poll showing support for Cowen's Fianna Fail 
party falling as low as 26 percent and backing for the opposition 
Fine Gael up at 33 percent.