The Irish government is under mind-boggling pressure to pull a rabbit
out of the hat and somehow ratify the Lisbon Treaty before the Euro-
elections next June. If they tried they would almost certainly fail
so the pressure is counter-productive. To get a ‘Yes’ vote in a
referendum would certainly need more time and as the recession
deepens it not likely to get much easier.
The EU politicians being most aggressive about this won’t ‘take on
board’ the fact that Ireland can ONLY ratify the Treaty through a
referendum for if they tried to circumvent that awkward requirement
the result would be thrown out by the courts - a detail that doesn’t
worry EU politicians all that much, for they are used - with the
European Court - to having a Court that does as it’s told!
xxxxxxxxxxxx cs
=======================
IRISH TIMES 24.10.08
Public not in mood to pass second Lisbon poll - Roche
MARY MINIHAN
MINISTER OF State for European Affairs Dick Roche has conceded that
the public mood will make it more difficult to get another Lisbon
referendum passed.
"That's always a problem with a referendum, that you ask a question
and you get an answer to all sorts of other issues," he said.
"One of the big challenges is to try and make sure that people
differentiate their views of the government of the day on a
particular issue from the issues being addressed in the referendum."
Mr Roche was speaking at a conference on the treaty in Dublin
yesterday, organised by the Irish Centre for European Law. He said
"mind-boggling changes" had taken place since the Irish electorate
rejected the Lisbon Treaty in June. "It doesn't make life any
easier," he said.
"Any political issue of the day always feeds into a referendum and
that simply makes the challenge of a referendum all the more difficult.
"Referenda are difficult, they're not easy. Being in government is
difficult, it's not easy. When there's an international, worldwide
economic downturn you have to make decisions which are not going to
be popular.
"But in the end of the day you have to make decisions which are right
for the country as a whole and hopefully the people in the fullness
of time will see that that is the case."
Mr Roche insisted the Government had a plan to address the issues of
concern to the Irish people in relation to Lisbon.
"The plan is to be much more forthright in terms of discussion," he
said.
Dr Gerard Hogan SC said some political criticisms of the treaty had
been so absurdly far-fetched they barely merited analysis.
Referring to legal criticisms, he asked if there were 10 people in
the country who could comfortably and immediately say what any clause
in the Finance Bill actually meant.
"If we were honest we would have to say that there aren't," he added.
"If the same can be said of certain aspects of the Lisbon Treaty it's
certainly not in my view a valid reason to say No. It's a lazy
person's excuse."
Referring to Article 14.2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights on
compulsory education, he said it could have been better drafted and
was "obviously a non-idiomatic translation from the French".
Statistical analysis of voting in the referendum was presented by
James MacCarthy-Morrogh of Millward Brown IMS.
"The latent pro-Europeanism of the Irish electorate cannot be
depended on," he said.
Mr MacCarthy-Morrogh said quite a number of Irish people no longer
believed Ireland's place was at the heart of Europe.
"I don't think they can be discounted," he said. Issues that had
arisen in previous referendums "haven't been put to bed", and there
was a level of uncertainty and fluidity within the electorate.
out of the hat and somehow ratify the Lisbon Treaty before the Euro-
elections next June. If they tried they would almost certainly fail
so the pressure is counter-productive. To get a ‘Yes’ vote in a
referendum would certainly need more time and as the recession
deepens it not likely to get much easier.
The EU politicians being most aggressive about this won’t ‘take on
board’ the fact that Ireland can ONLY ratify the Treaty through a
referendum for if they tried to circumvent that awkward requirement
the result would be thrown out by the courts - a detail that doesn’t
worry EU politicians all that much, for they are used - with the
European Court - to having a Court that does as it’s told!
xxxxxxxxxxxx cs
=======================
IRISH TIMES 24.10.08
Public not in mood to pass second Lisbon poll - Roche
MARY MINIHAN
MINISTER OF State for European Affairs Dick Roche has conceded that
the public mood will make it more difficult to get another Lisbon
referendum passed.
"That's always a problem with a referendum, that you ask a question
and you get an answer to all sorts of other issues," he said.
"One of the big challenges is to try and make sure that people
differentiate their views of the government of the day on a
particular issue from the issues being addressed in the referendum."
Mr Roche was speaking at a conference on the treaty in Dublin
yesterday, organised by the Irish Centre for European Law. He said
"mind-boggling changes" had taken place since the Irish electorate
rejected the Lisbon Treaty in June. "It doesn't make life any
easier," he said.
"Any political issue of the day always feeds into a referendum and
that simply makes the challenge of a referendum all the more difficult.
"Referenda are difficult, they're not easy. Being in government is
difficult, it's not easy. When there's an international, worldwide
economic downturn you have to make decisions which are not going to
be popular.
"But in the end of the day you have to make decisions which are right
for the country as a whole and hopefully the people in the fullness
of time will see that that is the case."
Mr Roche insisted the Government had a plan to address the issues of
concern to the Irish people in relation to Lisbon.
"The plan is to be much more forthright in terms of discussion," he
said.
Dr Gerard Hogan SC said some political criticisms of the treaty had
been so absurdly far-fetched they barely merited analysis.
Referring to legal criticisms, he asked if there were 10 people in
the country who could comfortably and immediately say what any clause
in the Finance Bill actually meant.
"If we were honest we would have to say that there aren't," he added.
"If the same can be said of certain aspects of the Lisbon Treaty it's
certainly not in my view a valid reason to say No. It's a lazy
person's excuse."
Referring to Article 14.2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights on
compulsory education, he said it could have been better drafted and
was "obviously a non-idiomatic translation from the French".
Statistical analysis of voting in the referendum was presented by
James MacCarthy-Morrogh of Millward Brown IMS.
"The latent pro-Europeanism of the Irish electorate cannot be
depended on," he said.
Mr MacCarthy-Morrogh said quite a number of Irish people no longer
believed Ireland's place was at the heart of Europe.
"I don't think they can be discounted," he said. Issues that had
arisen in previous referendums "haven't been put to bed", and there
was a level of uncertainty and fluidity within the electorate.
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