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FINALLY DOWN TO THE STARK CHOICE: NEW WORLD ORDER FEUDAL TYRANNY OR DEAR-BOUGHT LIBERTY AND SOVEREIGNTY? - ''No' Has The Momentum In Irish Treaty Vote' - 'Treaty Vote Under Way In Ireland' - Euro Elite: 'Ireland: Know Your Place, You Ungrateful Wretch!' – Preventing 'The End Of The Nation States Of Europe' - 'European Parliament Bans Opposition' - 'Lisbon Treaty: Where Is This All Going?' - 'France And Germany Vow Joint Response If Irish Reject EU Treaty' - 'Ireland's Chance To Speak For England' - 'EU referendum: The Luck Of The Irish'

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Jun 10, 2008, 6:36:33 PM6/10/08

FINALLY DOWN TO THE STARK CHOICE: NEW WORLD ORDER FEUDAL TYRANNY OR
DEAR-BOUGHT LIBERTY AND SOVEREIGNTY? - ''No' Has The Momentum In Irish
Treaty Vote' - 'Treaty Vote Under Way In Ireland' - Euro Elite:
'Ireland: Know Your Place, You Ungrateful Wretch!' – Preventing 'The
End Of The Nation States Of Europe' - 'European Parliament Bans
Opposition' - 'Lisbon Treaty: Where Is This All Going?' - 'France And
Germany Vow Joint Response If Irish Reject EU Treaty' - 'Ireland's
Chance To Speak For England' - 'EU referendum: The Luck Of The Irish'

- o O o -

'No' Has The Momentum In Irish Treaty Vote

DailyIndia.Com,
10 June, 2008.

DUBLIN, Ireland, June 10 (UPI) -- An analysis published Tuesday claims
Irish voters are losing enthusiasm for the European Union's proposed
Lisbon Treaty as Thursday's vote deadline approaches.

Ireland, which has been one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the
EU since its inception in 1973, nonetheless seems poised to defeat a
referendum on the country's acceptance of the treaty, which would
streamline and strengthen the EU's governance.

The analysis in the Wall Street Journal's European edition cites two
polls released last week indicating momentum continuing for the "no"
side, with one indicating treaty supporters have seen their "yes" lead
shrink from the 8 percentage points of two weeks ago to 3 points. The
other poll reportedly showed the "no" vote in the lead.

An analysis by the newspaper blames a perceived threat to Ireland's
long-held neutrality on military matters. One of the Lisbon treaty's
provisions would enhance the EU's defense policies and Irish voters,
the analysis says, are reluctant to commit to a treaty that would
imply a moral responsibility for European defense policies.

Also, the Journal said, Irish voters said they are worried that the
treaty would reduce Ireland's voting power within the EU, citing the
EU's corporate tax policy as an example.

Source: http://www.dailyindia.com/show/248428.php/No-has-the-momentum-in-Irish-treaty-vote

- o O o

Treaty Vote Under Way In Ireland

United Press International,
June 10, 2008.

DUBLIN, Ireland, June 10 (UPI) -- Irish voters seeking to cast ballots
on the European Union's proposed Lisbon Treaty were at the polls
Tuesday for a referendum on the measure.

Bad weather delayed the arrival of ballot boxes in some parts of
Ireland but people were at the polls by Tuesday afternoon,
EuroNews.net reported. Voting will wrap up Thursday.

The analysis blames a perceived threat to Ireland's long-held
neutrality on military matters. One of the Lisbon treaty's provisions
would enhance the EU's defense policies and Irish voters, the analysis
says, are reluctant to commit to a treaty that would imply a moral
responsibility for European defense policies.

Source: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/06/10/Treaty_vote_under_way_in_Ireland/UPI-91281213104884/

- o O o -

And, highly recommended...

'Ireland: Know Your Place, You Ungrateful Wretch!'
- The bile-filled assault on Irish voters who are thinking of
rejecting the Lisbon Treaty shows just how corrupt and undemocratic is
the EU.
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/5304/

- o O o -

Unless it's stopped now, at the last moment, the EU Treaty (read 'EU
Constitution' revived) inevitably means...

The End Of The Nation States Of Europe

By Philip Jones in Copenhagen,
via Rense,Com,
3 June, 2008.

'Europe's nations should be guided towards the superstate without
their people understanding what is happening. This can be accomplished
by successive steps, each disguised as having an economic purpose, but
which will eventually and irreversibly lead to federation'. Jean
Monnet (Founding Father Of The EU).

On June 12th 2008, the fate of nearly 500 million people will be
decided by a country whose population totals only 4.2 million. The
people of the Republic Of Ireland will be the only 'citizens' of the
European Union given the opportunity to have their say on what is
potentially the most fundamental piece of legislation in the history
of the 'Old Continent'. All the other member states have simply
ignored the wishes of their people and left ratification to be 'rubber
stamped' by their respective parliaments. However, it is necessary for
all twenty seven member states to complete ratification before the
'Treaty' becomes legally binding.

So, if the Irish vote is 'NO' then the treaty will not be able to be
implemented, at least for the present. But, if the Irish people
swallow the massive 'Pro Treaty' propaganda and vote 'Yes', then the
fate of, and inevitable demise of the Nation States of Europe will be
sealed. There will be no more serious obstacles left to
Federalisation. The long dreamed of (by the Federalists that is)
United States Of Europe will become a reality.

Many, if not the majority of people on both sides of the Atlantic have
been 'duped' for decades into believing that the EEC/EU is about a
'free trade' zone. This is not at all the case, as the above quote by
Monsieur Monet illustrates very clearly. So what are the ramifications
of a 'Yes' vote by the Irish.

The European Union was founded on lies and deceit at the very highest
levels of government. This trail of deception has continued since, and
on Thursday 13th December 2007 stopped momentarily in Lisbon Portugal,
where the 'dignitaries' of the member states of this 'trading bloc'
signed the 'EU Reform Treaty'.

This 'Treaty' replaces the EU Constitution rejected in 2005 by both
France and the Netherlands. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor and
the former French President 'Giscard D'Estaing are among many European
ministers who have confirmed that the 'Treaty' is but the Constitution
by another name. The only differentials being the dropping from the
new document those articles relating to the EU Flag, Anthem and Motto.
Yet only two days prior to the 'Historic event' in Lisbon, sixteen
member states 'broke cover' and called for an amendment to the 'Treaty
'and the reinstatement of these three articles, thereby transforming
the 'Treaty' into the original Constitution. They also want to impose
the 'single currency' on all those member states still retaining their
'indigenous' currencies and are suggesting that a 'Europe Day' become
a holiday for celebration.

The leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party 'Nigel Farage'
said, "The full treachery being imposed is at last fully out in the
open. The pathetic attempts claiming this wasn't the Constitution are
now blown out of the water. Back comes the flag, the anthem and the
motto. It means that what was 96% of the original constitution is now
100%. Let's not hear anymore of the 'Reform Treaty'. This is the
rejected EU Constitution brought back in all it's pomp'.

The Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen has decided against
any referendum on the Treaty, leaving it's ratification to Danish MPs.
He told reporters that the 'Treaty' was 'Good For Denmark'. Denmark
had planned to hold a referendum on the Constitution back in 2005, but
following the 'NO' votes in France and Holland, the vote was dropped.
The Danish Justice Ministry have concluded that the 'Treaty' does not
threaten Danish Sovereignty. Mr Rasmussen is quoted as saying " When
sovereignty is relinquished, a referendum is needed, but when no
sovereignty is relinquished, Parliament will ratify the text'. He also
confirmed plans to hold another referendum on the 'Single
Currency' (EURO) and whether to end the 'opt outs' agreed at
Maastricht relating to defence, justice and home affairs.

So, no threat to sovereignty ? Well let's consider the implications;
If a Sovereign Nation State no longer controls it's own Economy,
Defence, Justice System and Home Affairs, can it truly be called a
'Sovereign Nation State' any longer ? The answer is quite simply NO.

The Political and Financial Elite of Europe have been working towards
this moment since the end of World War Two. In every member state, the
personalities might differ, but the rhetoric is always the same; 'No
Loss Of Sovereignty, good for the people, good for the economy and so
on'.

Alright' let us take a look at what this 'Treaty' is really about.
What is the difference between this document and the original
Constitution ? German Lawyer, Klaus Heeger, a researcher and legal
advisor to the Independent Democratic group in the EU Parliament has
drawn the following conclusions regarding the two documents:

According to his analysis, the Constitution granted the EU 105 new
'competences'. The 'Treaty' also grants 105 new areas of competence.
Out goes the EU symbols (Flag, Anthem, Motto) in comes Climate Change.
The remaining 104 areas remain the same.

Decision making by qualified majority replaces 'unanimity' in 62 new
areas in the Reform Treaty. One more than in the Constitution. Out
goes 'Intellectual property rights', in comes energy and climate
change. The other 60 stay the same.

His conclusion; The EU Constitution by another name.

This sixth and final 'Treaty' is the 'death knell' for the sovereignty
of the member states of the EU. Do not be mistaken about this, and no
matter what your 'elected' leaders are telling you to the contrary,
this is it. This is the culmination of years of plotting, deception
and conspiring against the people of Europe. So what's the big deal
many will ask ? Read on and find out.

This 'Treaty' is the EU's most secret and quickest drafted document
yet. Opposition to and recognition that the EU is a Police State in
the making is growing and they (the conspirators) know that speed is
vital. Tony Blair agreed to it in June 2007 as his final 'Stab in
Britains Back'. Foreign Ministers agreed it's terms in September 2007
and on 13th December two months later, the representatives of each
member state signed the document, and now, all that remains is
ratification, and the deed will be done.

So, if the result of the Irish vote is a 'Yes'and all other member
states do as indicated, ratify this treasonous piece of infamy, how
will our lives be affected ?

Our National Parliaments will become redundant as all power that still
remains will transfer to Brussels. It will mean the formal end of
those Historic Nations of Europe who are member states of the EU.
National Embassies around the world will come under the auspicies of
EU bureaucrats. The ancient counties and provinces will be merged and
combined into 'EU Administrative Regions'. (The recent amalgamations
of Kommunes in Denmark is a premptive example of this, along with the
'devolved' parliaments of Scotland and Wales, to be soon joined by the
eradication of 'England' and the setting up of similar regional
assemblies there).

The EU will take ownership of Police, Military, Nuclear Weapons,
Currency Reserves and North Sea Oil as outlined in the Treaty
document. Serving members of our Police and Armed Forces will be
required to take an oath of loyalty to the EU. Refusal will result in
dismissal. The EU will have complete control of all military matters,
equipment and facililties.

Political parties will be abolished, phased out or realigned. Only Pan
European parties will be allowed. Independence parties will
effectively be outlawed as under the 1999 ruling of the European Court
Of Justice (case 274/99), it is illegal to criticize the EU. (Even
before the Irish Vote, News from Brussels indicates that plans are
afoot already to eliminate any 'Eurosceptic groups within the EU
Parliament). The EU will have the legal right to close National
Parliaments and Assemblies.

Many people will be made unemployed as the EU rule of 'retraining' at
a citizens own expense becomes universal (including the purchase of a
Certificate confirming said retraining). Hundreds of thousands of
small businesses will be forced to close due to the enforcement of
endless numbers of impracticable and unworkable EU regulations.

Around 107,000 EU laws will criminalise many, as adherence to this
amount of legislation is impossible. We will be subject to frequent
fines and even arrest as a result of what will be our inevitable
ignorance. Take the following as examples: From January 2006, it
became illegal to repair your own domestic plumbing, electricals or
even your own car. If you buy a boat over six feet long, built after
1999, you will be required to pay the equivalent in Euros of £4000, or
face six months in prison. As the EU 'Police State' flexes it's
muscles ever more, each of us will live under the fear and threat of
arrest or prosecution for any one of a myriad of offences, even minor
ones.

The Large Corporations will do well of course, utilising massive
immigration from within and without the EU, paying minimum wages to
immigrants at the expense of the indigenous population, thus forcing
salaries downwards. Futhermore, these Corporations will have a near
Monopoly on employment (along with Government), and will be able to
dictate conditions and terms of employment withour fear of
contradiction.

Top Government Jobs and the inevitable corruption which will
accomapany this monopoly, will create a new 'Class Divide' ensuring
the rich and their 'fellow travellers' get richer, whilst the majority
decline into poverty. Taxes will increase in order to pay for the
massive growth in bureaucracy.

There will be no 'redress of grievance' through local 'democratic'
channels because there won't be any local democracy. Or any democracy
at all for that matter. The 'EU Administrative Regional Governments'
will be unelected (See the EU Regionalisation plan on the EU Website).
Our only vote will be to the powerless EU Parliament. We will be ruled
by the unelected EU Commisioners, who have no 'accountability to the
people' at any level.

If we demonstrate or protest, we can be seized and relocated to
another EU Region. The EU Arrest Warrant and the various legislation
introduced across the EU since 9/11 will give the Authorities absolute
power over us. The shootings of innocents 'Philip Prout' and 'Jean de
Menezes' were entirely legal under EU Law. The intimidation and
growing 'Anti Muslim' vitriol across the EU is becoming reminiscent of
the treatment of Jews in pre war Germany. A Federal European State
will become a very unpleasant place to be.

Following Federation, in and around 15 years hence, Europe could
collapse under the weight of it's own Bureaucracy and Corruption.
There will be so little production, that no amount of taxation will be
able to support the vast, inept, corrupt and wasteful government
machinery. Many will be reduced to poverty on the brink of starvation.
The complete lack of any 'checks and balances' will leave the door
open for any would be dictatorship.

The EU as monstrous as it is, is nothing more than a 'stepping stone'
to 'World Government'. Before you dismiss this article as 'Scare
Mongering' or 'Conspiracy Theory', find out how many of your own
country's leading politicians are members of such 'Secret
Organisations' as the Biderbergers, Trilateral Commission, Club Of
Rome, and the Royal Institute For International Affairs.

Each and every one of the above are totally dedicated to a 'One World'
Government and see a Federal Europe as a necessary evolution towards
that goal. Their memberships read like a who's who of the planet's
'power players'. Danish readers for example, might be very surprised
to discover which of their country's Political and Financial Elites
attend the Bilderberger meetings, which has been in the forefront of
machinations to further European Federalisation. To find out which of
your elected representatives are members of any of the above groups,
just type in the organisation's name on any recognised search engine.
Then sit back and prepare to be shocked.

We live in an age where people seem to have abdicated all
responsibilty for their own lives to Government. This has been going
on since the end of World War Two, but has accelerated markedly since
the 1980's. This 'social irresponsibilty' led us to Lisbon on 13th
December 2007, where our so called leaders signed away our ancient
rights and freedoms in the name of their 'great plan'. If we sit back
and do nothing, the rest of our lives will become a nightmare of our
own making, because in the final analysis, it is we who will have
handed over our rights and liberties into the hands of 'wolves'.

The future well being of a whole continent lies in the hands of the
Irish people. They need our support. They need to know they are not
alone. It's time to start writing to your 'elected' representatives,
time to find the time to research what this EU thing is really about.
Time to switch off the TV and pick up a book about the EU, or check
out the many internet sites relating to this 'Superstate in the
making'. Do something, speak to your friends, neighbours, family. Just
do something. Before it is too late, and it almost is.

Philip Jones

Postscript: Anyone who cares about liberty should visit
http://www.irish-friends-vote-no-for-me.org/index.php?
set_language=en&cccpage=sign_petition and sign the online petition and
also use the email link asking an Irish citizen to vote no on your
behalf.

- o O o -

European Parliament Bans Opposition

From the desk of Fjordman,
The Brussels Journal,
28 May, 2008.

The European Union, the "free trade organization with a few added
extras," is officially turning into a pan-European dictatorship. The
Daily Telegraph reports:

"The European Union assembly's political establishment is pushing
through changes that will silence dissidents by changing the rules
allowing Euro-MPs to form political groupings. Richard Corbett, a
British Labour MEP, is leading the charge to cut the number of party
political tendencies in the Parliament next year, a move that would
dissolve UKIP's pan-European Eurosceptic "Independence and Democracy"
grouping. Under the rule change, the largest and most pro-EU groups
would tighten their grip on the Parliament's political agenda and keep
control of lavish funding."

The EU already has clear authoritarian leanings and is moving in a
totalitarian direction with astonishing speed.

The pace with which these changes are occurring is so breathtaking
that it even surprises me sometimes, and I'm one of the most militant
anti-EU persons around. Within the past two years, EU leaders have
ignored the referendums in several countries rejection the EU
Constitution. The Lisbon Treaty is virtually identical to the
Constitution, and is now being pushed through without referendums,
with the exception of Ireland. This Constitution/Lisbon Treaty will
more or less dismantle the existing nation states throughout much of
Europe, which constitutes high treason against dozens of countries
simultaneously.

That's bad enough. What's worse is that the same EU leaders, including
the British Foreign Minister, the French President and the German
Chancellor, have officially announced the enlargement of the EU to
include Muslim North Africa and the Middle East. A proposed European
Arrest Warrant lists a number of crimes, including terrorism, armed
robbery, rape, and racism and xenophobia, which are punishable
throughout the EU. The European Arrest Warrant requires that anyone
who is charged by a member state under the listed group of offenses
(which could cover just about anything) may be arrested by the
authorities of the issuing state within any other member state. The
accused must then be transited for trial to the issuing state within
ten days, without any interference, judicial or otherwise, by the
executing state.

Racism includes "Islamophobia," according to numerous EU documents.
Which means that "Islamophobia" will soon be treated as a crime as
serious as rape and armed robbery across most of the European
continent. At the same time, European leaders are busy enlarging the
EU to include North Africa and the Middle East, thus flooding Europe
with tens of millions of additional Muslims. Not far into the future,
EU authorities can arrest a person in, say, Denmark or Italy, who has
published a cartoon that could be considered offensive to Islam. He or
she will then be quietly handed over to the authorities in Algeria,
Egypt or Jordan. Remember that blasphemy against Islam potentially
carries the death penalty according to sharia. Multiculturalism in
Europe is thus reaching its openly totalitarian phase. Those who think
this is a joke can look at the Dutch cartoonist who was arrested
recently. Several documents that are publicly available (but little
known by the general public because they are never referred to by the
mainstream media) state that the EU should "harmonize" the education
and legal systems with the Mediterranean "partner countries" within
the coming decade. This is being negotiated as we speak, behind our
backs.

This is part of a long-term plan to merge Europe with the Islamic
world. As I've said many times before, the creation of Eurabia
constitutes nothing less than the greatest betrayal in the history of
European civilization, possibly the greatest betrayal in the history
of any civilization. An entire continent, the cradle of the greatest
civilization mankind has ever seen, is to be culturally dismantled and
turned into an obedient dumping ground for demographic warfare by its
Islamic enemies. Those among the indigenous peoples who object to this
will be harassed, and opposition to these policies will be banned by
law. This is done by the very same individuals who are supposed to be
these nations' entrusted leaders.

The time has now come for the natives of Britain, Germany, the
Netherlands, Finland, France, Spain, Greece and other countries to
treat the European Union for what it is: An aggressively hostile
organization fundamentally opposed to anything we hold dear.

Source: http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/3290

- o O o -

Lisbon Treaty: Where Is This All Going?

Lisbon Treaty Irish Referendum Blog,
- National Platform
June 3, 2008

1. Harmonisation of Corporate Tax;

2. Losing permanent Commissioner, Halving voting strength;

3. The “Blank Cheque” Self-Amending power;

4. Superiority of all EU law over Irish Constitution;

5. Lisbon origin in rejected EU Constitution.

* Where is this all going? Harmonisation of Corporate tax:

Article 2.79 of the Lisbon Treaty would insert a six-word amendment
-”and to avoid distorton of competition” - into the Article of the
existing European Treaties dealing with harmonising indirect taxes -
Article 113.

This would enable the European Court of Justice, which adjudicates on
competition matters, to decide that Ireland’s 12.5% rate of company
tax, as against Germany’s 30%, is a distortion of competition which
breaches the Treaty Articles dealing with the internal market (Art. 26
and Arts.101-9 TFEU) in relation to which qualified majority voting on
the Council of Ministers applies.

The Irish Government’s veto under Article 113 would thus be
irrelevant.

* Where is this all going? Loss of permanent Commissioner and
reduction in voting strength:

- Lisbon removes any Irish voice from the EU Commission, the body
which has the monopoly of proposing all EU laws, for five years out of
every 15 (Art.17.5 TEU).

- Lisbon abolishes our right to decide who the Irish Commissioner is
when it comes to our turn to be on the Commission, replacing it by a
right to make “suggestions” only for the Commission President to
decide (Art.17.7 TEU).

- Lisbon Treaty would double Germany’s say on the EU Council of
Ministers; Ireland’s voting weight would be more than halved to 1%
(Art.16 TEU).

* Where is this all going? The self-amending Treaty:

- This could be Ireland’s last referendum on Europe - the EU can
acquire new competences without another treaty, like signing a blank
cheque.

- Lisbon would permit the EU Prime Ministers to shift most of the
remaining EU policy areas where unanimity still exists, to majority
voting, without need for new EU Treaties or referendums (Art.48 TEU).

* Where is this all going? The dilution of Bunreacht na hEireann and
the superiority of EU law:

EU law is already superior to Irish law. Lisbon would further weaken
Irish control by adding more competences and powers to the EU.

- It hands over to the EU the power to make laws binding on us in 32
new policy areas, such as crime, justice and policing, public
services, immigration, energy, transport, tourism, sport, culture,
public health, the EU budget etc.

- It removes a national veto in 68 areas

- Lisbon will give the EU Court of Justice the power to decide our
rights as EU citizens - Ireland’s Supreme Court would no longer have
the final say (Art.6 TEU).

* Where is this all going? The Treaty’s origin in the EU Constitution:

- The Lisbon treaty is a repackaged version of the EU Constitution
(96% the same). France and the Netherlands both rejected it, people
across Europe have felt increasing unease about the EU project.

Source:http://nationalplatform.wordpress.com/

- o O o -

France And Germany Vow Joint Response If Irish Reject EU Treaty

By Stephen Castle,
International Herald Tribune,
June 10, 2008

BRUSSELS: In an admission that France and Germany are contemplating a
possible Irish no vote on the European Union's Lisbon treaty, the two
countries have promised a joint response if the result of the
referendum Thursday in Ireland plunges the bloc into political crisis.

Opinion polls show the Irish public split almost evenly on whether to
approve the treaty, with as much as one-third of the voting population
undecided. Analysts believe the outcome will be determined by turnout,
with a higher rate favoring the yes side.

Though Ireland has less than 1 percent of the EU's population, an
Irish no vote would stop the Lisbon treaty in its tracks because all
27 member states need to ratify it for it to come into force.

Speaking Monday night after a meeting with the Chancellor Angela
Merkel of Germany, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, admitted the
possibility of a no vote that would create a crisis just as France
prepares to start its six-month presidency of the EU on July 1.

"The eventuality of an Irish rejection would be a problem not only for
the French presidency but for Europe," Sarkozy said. "It's for the
Irish to decide on this, but what Madame Merkel and I have decided is
that, whatever happens, the reaction will be a Franco-German one."

The treaty is designed to streamline the EU's structures and give the
bloc a bigger say on the global stage by establishing a full-time
president of the European Council, the institution where heads of
government meet, and a new, more powerful foreign policy chief.

If the Irish vote no, attention will focus immediately on the reaction
of the British government, which rejected pressure to hold a
referendum and is ratifying the treaty through Parliament.

That process is expected to be concluded next week, but Prime Minister
Gordon Brown of Britain would come under heavy pressure to halt the
process in the event of an Irish rejection of the treaty. The problems
with the pact would come to a head at a gathering of EU leaders next
week in Brussels, which would become a crisis meeting.

"Brown could come under strong pressure to abandon the treaty's
ratification, now in its final stages in the British Parliament, and
declare the EU's attempts to reform itself over," Hugo Brady, research
fellow at the Center for European Reform in London, said in a policy
paper.

"If the treaty is abandoned, EU countries are likely to give up on
attempts to ratify wide-ranging reform treaties, preferring instead
the ease of working more closely together through avant-garde groups
on matters such as defense, foreign policy or taxation."

The British response would be crucial because 15 of the 27 EU nations
have so far ratified the treaty. If Britain and the rest continue to
do so, Ireland's position would become more difficult and the country
could come under pressure to negotiate revisions to the treaty and
hold a second referendum.

That was what happened in 2001 when Ireland rejected the Nice Treaty
in the first of two referendums.

But diplomats would struggle to give the Irish any genuine commitments
to address the issues of concern raised in the Irish referendum
campaign, since most fall outside the scope of the treaty.

Moreover if Britain, and other countries such as the Czech Republic,
declared the treaty dead, it would be almost impossible to resurrect
it. When France and the Netherlands rejected the proposed European
constitution in 2005, that agreement had to be abandoned.

The most likely option is that the treaty would be abandoned and that
the EU would attempt to revise its current arrangements only when it
prepares to admit the next nation due to join, Croatia, in 2011 or
2012.

That would effectively make any referendums on a new treaty
plebiscites on the accession of the new member. This would solve a
problem faced by campaigners for the treaty, who have struggled to
find good reasons to persuade Irish voters to turn out.

Andrew Duff, Liberal Democrat spokesman on constitutional issues in
the European Parliament, said that a rejection of the treaty in
Ireland would mean its demise.

"I think if the Irish say no it will be over," he said. "I think the
Irish prime minister, Brian Cowen, would be unable to find anything
special for Ireland that would solve the domestic problem. I think the
political parties are tired out, and I think they will not contemplate
the prospect of a second referendum."

Duff added that among other heads of government in the EU there would
be nervousness about isolating Ireland which, unlike Britain, is a
member of the bloc's single currency.

He also said that ideas of forming an advance guard of countries
excluding Ireland would be difficult without the Lisbon treaty because
there are fewer possibilities to do so under the existing Nice Treaty.

Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/10/europe/union.php

- o O o -

Ireland's Chance To Speak For England

The country's vote on Thursday will determine the fate of the Lisbon
treaty, a situation rich in historical paradox

Mary Kenny
Guardian, UK,
June 10, 2008

Never before – and probably never again – will the Irish people have
so much power over their 500 million fellow Europeans as they have
this week. For if Ireland votes no to the Lisbon referendum on
Thursday June 12, then the whole EU constitutional project is, as
Terry Wogan would say, "banjaxed".

What a responsibility! But also, what a joy! And what a situation rich
with paradoxes, too. The no campaign is being driven, to a large
degree, by a gut Irish nationalism: by a deep, historical, visceral
sense that Ireland fought for her sovereignty over the centuries, and
made many sacrifices for this sovereignty. Why should this be meekly
handed over – at the behest of the political class – through the
agency of the Lisbon treaty?

(Not that everyone has actually read the treaty: and many voters have
pronounced it unreadable. Many no campaigners have argued that it is
deliberately constructed to be unreadable. And that is another reason,
it is argued, to vote no: if a contract is so indigestibly unreadable,
then it should be sent back to the drawing board.)

But the historical paradox is that in this referendum, Ireland, and
particularly Irish nationalism, is going to bat not just for its own
values – but for those of many Britons too.

Ireland, on Thursday, will speak for many in the UK – especially since
the UK voters have been denied the chance of such a referendum
themselves.

And it is the most traditional Brits – Conservatives, Unionists, the
Murdoch media, the United Kingdom Independence party (Ukip) – who are
finding themselves rooting for Ireland. The referendum has, after all,
brought out certain deep values all nationalists – may we also say
patriots? – have in common, which is a strong attachment to
sovereignty. Personally, I have always thought that Ukip's motto
should be "Ourselves Alone", as Sinn Féin originally coined it in
1905.

It is also a strange paradox that Fianna Fáil, the ruling party
founded by Éamon de Valera, should be so vehemently urging a yes vote,
for the ever-closer union of a European constitution, when De Valera
himself spent his long life affirming Irish sovereignty.

De Valera's correspondence with British officials – and with the
monarchy – bristles with affirmations of Irish sovereignty. No, he
wouldn't attend the King's coronation because it didn't respect Irish
sovereignty. No, he wouldn't yield the Irish seaports to Winston
Churchill because of Irish sovereignty. No, he wouldn't cooperate with
a Commonwealth conference on a point of Irish sovereignty.

This is all glossed over by his successors. The word "sovereignty" is
never mentioned.

Of course, it is not just nationalists in Ireland who are urging a no
vote. The Greens and the Socialists are also against it – and Tony
Benn had a rapturous reception when he spoke in Dublin for the no
campaign.

And many business people are concerned that Ireland's low rate of
corporation tax – at 12% – will be forcibly abolished by the French
(whose business tax is over 34%) and the Germans (business tax at over
38%) once Lisbon is in place.

To be sure, Ireland has done well out of the EU – although the "Celtic
tiger" economy was as much to do with American investment in a country
with a high level of education as with handouts from Brussels. But, as
a matter of a history, Ireland often did well out of the British
empire too: one scholar calculates that about a third of those serving
the empire in the 19th and early 20th century were Irish. But that
didn't mean it couldn't affirm its own sovereignty in the face of the
British empire.

And now, never, in the history of Anglo-Irish relations, have British
traditionalists so ardently supported the Irish "rebel streak" – that
long, folk idea of deliberately not pleasing the political class: of
being, on principle, "agin the government".

Surely, in the purlieus of Tunbridge Wells, there will be echoes of
"Up the rebels!" and "Ireland – speak for England!", as the vote seems
to teeter on a knife-edge.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/10/ireland.eu

- o O o -

EU referendum: The Luck Of The Irish

The Irish should vote to free us all from the Lisbon Treaty and the
loss of sovereignty it represents

Editorial,
The Times, UK,
June 11, 2008

Oh, for the luck of the Irish. They are the only people in Europe to
have a vote on the future of the European Union. That is thanks to
their Constitution, not their leaders. Until recently the Irish
Establishment had assumed that its citizens would rubber-stamp the
Lisbon treaty, the repackaged EU constitution. Now, in the face of a
formidable “no” campaign, it is trying to scare them into doing so.
That tomorrow's poll is too close to call, in a country that has
benefited so much from EU largesse, is a measure of how wrong-headed
the whole process has been.

The Irish “no” coalition is a ragbag that includes Sinn Fein, pro-life
campaigners and business executives. Like the French and Dutch
rejections of the EU constitution in 2003, an Irish “no” vote would
have its own parochial dimension. But that would not undermine its
legitimacy. Most of those planning to vote “no” tomorrow have one
thing in common: they do not trust a treaty that they do not
understand. They show a good deal more common sense than the
politicians.

The lack of clarity should make it impossible for any country to sign
this document. It is a piece of deliberate obfuscation by technocrats
who wish to proceed with a considerable erosion of national
sovereignty under a smokescreen of “tidying up”. As a result of its
vague wording, the treaty is dangerously ambiguous. Countries which
imagine that they have negotiated opt-outs from unpopular bits risk
finding out in years to come that the European Court of Justice takes
a different view.

The “yes” camp argues that the Lisbon treaty is essential to the
smooth functioning of the EU after enlargement, and that a rejection
will throw the institutions into “chaos”. But the European Union is
not paralysed. In the past year alone, 177 EU directives have passed
into British law.

It is equally disingenuous to portray the treaty as a purely
administrative exercise to cope with enlargement. A change in voting
weights is an inevitable consequences of the arrival of new members,
although small states such as Ireland stand to lose out
disproportionately from that, and from the reduction in commissioners.
But enlargement is no justification for the proposed removal of more
than 40 vetoes in areas ranging from “economic co-ordination” to
energy policy. The Lisbon treaty would give the European Court of
Justice jurisdiction over crime and justice matters for the first
time. It would make the EU a legal personality, able to sign treaties
in its own right. Through a self-amending clause it would allow
ministers to abolish national vetoes without any further treaty, and
so without ratification by national parliaments or referendums. It is
anti-democratic at its very core.

These changes, and others, would dramatically alter the powers of
member states. Politicians hold these powers in trust for the people.
They are not theirs to give away by executive order. Gordon Brown was
wrong to insist that Labour's manifesto commitment to hold a
referendum on the EU constitution did not apply to the Lisbon treaty.
He has wilfully ignored the evidence of two select committees that the
two documents were substantially similar.

The Lisbon treaty does nothing about EU corruption and waste, which
have returned to centre stage this week. It does nothing about the
EU's notorious farm subsidies. It enshrines, rather than bridges, the
gulf between the public and the elite. Brian Cowen, the Irish Prime
Minister, has implied that an Irish “no” vote would be a vote to
“disengage” from Europe. That is disingenuous. An Irish “no” would
signal that the elites must go back to the drawing board. Deprived of
our own vote, we must pin our hopes on Ireland to speak for all of
us.

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article4107355.ece

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