Say NO to Lisbon

I'm coming out of semi-retirement today because democracy is at risk in the other part of the Irish nation, the Republic of Ireland, a country that has long prided itself on independence.

The Lisbon Treaty is the subject of my fellow Irishmen's referendum tomorrow. Not "do we like Europe?", not "do we want to be nice to the Germans?", not "should we be grateful for the past funding?"

The Lisbon Treaty is a 95%-unchanged version of the draft EU constitution resoundingly kicked out by the French and the Dutch because it cedes key sovereignty issues to the unelected grey suits of Brussels. So the euro-élite repackaged it as something they could pass themselves, unhindered: the Lisbon Treaty, now sycophantically ratified by most parliaments of the big nations who don't have to ask their people. Why, out of good manners, have France and the Netherlands not been asked to vote on the Lisbon Treaty? Because it's being railroaded.

The plush corridors of Brussels are a guaranteed final resting place for failed national politicians. They want them. They need them. Their countries, however DO NOT. It's been said elsewhere that Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who drafted the constitution, warned that no citizens should be asked to vote on it. I bet he did.

Three countries have voted on the constitution/Lisbon Treaty, and all three have rejected it.

The Republic of Ireland is the only EU country whose constitution demands that national soverign power may not be ceded without a referendum. Thank God for Bunreacht na hÉireann. It's the only document in the entire EU able to stop the grey men in their treacherous tracks.

But now, with Ireland in dire economic straits, the euro-élite have piled the pressure on the Irish political classes. "Aw, go on, ask them again. And make sure you get a 'yes'."

I'm a committed supporter of free trade and political cooperation by independent governments in Europe. If you're voting in the Republic's referendum tomorrow, please vote NO to the Lisbon Treaty. That way, you'll be voting 'yes' to Europe by retaining democratic control and saving it from the euro-élite. You're the only ones that can.

Many died for your independence. Don't piss it away.