EU referendum in Ireland

[Rudy Tamasz]

What do you EU guys think of the vote on Lisboa treaty about to be held in Ireland this week? My question pertains not so much to the yay/nay issue but rather to how much the people's opinion really matters in this case.

I am asking because I think there is too much pressure is being put on the Irish to vote 'yes' and there is too much propaganda is on air. Recently the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Kouchner said that the Irish will punish themselves by saying 'no'. IMHO, it is not the business of somebody not elected by and not accountable to the Irish telling them what to do. I am also afraid that once the vote is negative Brussels will shove the positive answer down the collective Irish throats by forcing them to vote again and again and increasing the amounts of propaganda.

[SOD]

Vote NO. Its a watered down version of what was rejected by Europe in 2005.

Keep your say, vote NO.

[SOD]

The big question is why the Lisbon treaty was not put to the people of every country in the EU. Every government ratified the treaty on behalf of each country. That's the worrying thing.

[Drew]

Well, it's good that somewhere is holding a vote. Because you know the UK will never get one :

[SOD]

^ but we'd already know how the UK would vote

[Drew]

That's why we're not having one

[Rudy Tamasz]

This is why I have a problem with EU. I totally disapprove of the current pro-Russian policies of my government and ideally EU could have been a decent alternative for Belarus. But the way Brussels and national governments treat their voters pi$$es me off. Once you are in your voice doesn't matter and you end up being told what to do.

[SOD]

This is why I have a problem with EU. I totally disapprove of the current pro-Russian policies of my government and ideally EU could have been a decent alternative for Belarus. But the way Brussels and national governments treat their voters pi$$es me off. Once you are in your voice doesn't matter and you end up being told what to do.

so says the guy who thinks that by NOT voting that you tell the gubinint that you dont need them.

use your vote wisely.

[Mark]

Ireland will be interesting because it's completely unlike the UK as regards attitudes to Europe, being one of the most pro-Europe countries in the EU, and yet it still looks like they may well vote no.

I think they are having the same problems that affect this sort of thing in the UK. They are just getting lots of spin and rhetoric from both sides of the argument and very little in detailed facts.

[ioan]

They are just getting lots of spin and rhetoric from both sides of the argument and very little in detailed facts.

That's the way politics work these days.
They consider that the people are all idiots and don't need the facts in order to think for themselves, only conclusions that push them one way or the other.