Britannia Radio

I'm glad Mardell's written this but I'm astonished how ill-informed 
the BBC's EU correspondent is  [What DO we pay him to do?]  that he 
cannot find anybody to tell him that Ireland is IN the extreme mess 
that it is in because of the Euro.  For  readers'  benefit I won't 
spell it out all again here but just repeat what I wrote this morning 
"If Ireland had not foolishly joined the euro when it did, it would 
not have had the runaway boom  but neither would it have collapsed so 
heavily , having surrendered the ability to make independent monetary 
changes to restore a balance"

Let's pray he's right about the referendum result
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BBC NEWS Blog 8.4.09
Lisbon not done deal for Irish
by Mark Mardell

So a harsh, tax-raising budget from the deeply unpopular Irish 
government. I wonder how this will impact on the planned autumn 
referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. The consensus view in Dublin and 
Brussels is that the economic crisis will reverse last summer's "No" 
vote. I am doubtful. The logic goes that Ireland would have been much 
worse off outside the euro and the EU and so people will deliver a 
vote "for" the EU. The first is open to debate of course, but I have 
seen few disagree strongly. I would be grateful if any of you can 
point me to those who argue against the feeling that the euro was and 
is a good thing for Ireland.

The second half of the proposition seems to me much more contentious. 
In most referendums voters will take the opportunity to give an 
unpopular government a good kicking, whatever the question on the 
ballot paper. Can the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, really buck the trend?

Then there is the assumption, common in the EU establishment, that 
you can't be "for" the EU and against the Lisbon Treaty. The Irish 
people may not agree.

As the referendum grows nearer voices will be raised again suggesting 
that if the Irish say "No" then the rest of the EU will move ahead 
without them. Aside from the morality or wisdom of this I am not sure 
it has any meaning. Sure, an Irish "No" might mean a lot of ill will 
from from other member countries' governments at a time when Ireland 
needs all the friends it can get. Certainly some EU countries can 
proceed to "ever closer union" while others decline to take part, the 
euro and the passport-free area being the most important and obvious 
examples.

But Lisbon is not like the euro or the Schengen agreement. How on 
earth could 26 countries operate under Lisbon while Ireland operates 
under the Nice Treaty? So most nations would be represented, as per 
Lisbon, by a new president of the European Council while Ireland 
sticks with the old system of a six-month rotating presidency by 
nation states? And Ireland keeps 27 commissioners but the others 
reduce their numbers? It doesn't make sense. I am not one to wish 
summer and spring away, but autumn in Ireland will be fascinating.