HOME Saturday, 12 October 2002

I have now had all the referendum booklets and I've also downloaded a copy of the Nice treaty. It is no earthly use listening to any of the opposite sides in the issue, because both are only telling one mangled side of the story.   Getting one thing clear at the start: a No vote will not prevent enlargement of the EU. We had that from no less a person than Prodi, himself, and his lapdog, Bertie Ahern, when the original decision was given in the legal referendum. So the illegal rerun is obviously for other reasons.   Reduction of representation in the EU Parliament seems logical enough and is nothing new. For example in Ireland, Dublin has more TDs than almost the rest of the country combined, but, then, it has about a third of the population, so that seems fair.   What is not, fair, however, is how undemocratically The Council of the EU is run, and how much more undemocratic it will be if the ratification gors ahead. Every country is an independent state and, as such, every country should only have one vote. Pupulation cannot be used as an excuse here. No country should have the power to control another country, simply because it is bigger and richer.   We have an example of what "enhanced co-operation" may mean in this country, where the Dublin and Greater Dublin area has benefited from the neglect of the rest of the country in the matter of modern and (as far as it is ever possible for CIE) efficent rail travel in the capital, while in many rural areas the track has been allowed to fall to pieces with bushes and trees growing up between the rails.   As for the people who will vote "No" because of the way they have been misled by the politicians during the last elections, I say more power to them. This is probably the only opportunity they will ever again have to give the politicians a good kick in the bollocks and embarrass them before the rest of the EU. Such a once in a lifetime chance should not be missed.   Isn't is more than a little odd, how the community bosses have changed the name over the years. First It was the European Economic Community: it was about money, and it didn't try to hide it. Then it was the European Community: it was supposed to be about people, but that didn't last long. Now it's the European Union: it's about politics, and that's plain enough. Remember, though that politics is to do with running states; it is nothing to do with people.

HOME Monday, 21 October 2002

So the people yet again believed the lies of the people who told them lies before the General Election and gave permission to the EU to do with us as they will. Yes, the word has gone out that the Irish are sheep and, as long as you shout at them loudly enough, they will run whichever way you want.   And Romano Prodi’s lapdog will go trotting back to his master, wagging his tail, this time expecting a pat on the back and a few titbits, rather than the kick in the bollix he got the last time for not doing his master’s bidding.   I suppose it was only to be expected when every institution in the country and every political party (with the exceptions of the Greens and Sinn Féin) canvassed for a Yes vote. People simply could not believe that all these people could be scoundrels and liars. And the opposition, of course, looked to be the ones you could not trust. (I do not trust the Greens and Sinn Féin, myself.)   Even the elements on Sunday seemed to be in a fury at this betrayal of the country, with gales blowing the leaves and birds indiscriminately about the sky.   Things, of course, seldom work out the way you expect them to, and it will probably be that things will not be as downright bad as I am expecting, but a great chance was lost by the people to show who are truly the bosses in this country. Instead they have put the chains back around their own necks and given the politicians still more confidence in the power of their lies. We can expect more of the same in the future  A lot of obtuse remarks from the winners in today's Examiner, none more so than from Fergus Finaly, "a voice for the undefended, a force of conscience", as the Examiner, itself, clumsily advertises him. According to Mr Finlay, the fact that one of the No campaigners, was, rightly or wrongly, associated with the Right Wing in Germany, was a good enough reason for those preparing to vote No, to vote yes, instead! In other words, the "force of conscience" thinks that it is more important what other people think of you than what you actually are. Oh, Goodbye Reason.