Ireland Says NO

The results of yesterday's referendum have just been announced with a clear victory for the NO campaign.

The Irish electorate have shown their rejection of the Lisbon treaty in Europe's only citizen vote on the issue by 53.4% against. In perhaps the biggest turnout in Irish European referendum history, people not only voted to reject the treaty but in much greater numbers than ever before (over 800,000 votes against as opposed to the 500,000 against the Nice treaty).

For all intents and purposes, Lisbon is dead.

Or is it?

It was always clear that the Treaty required complete unanimity in order to come into effect. Regardless of the results of the ratification process of other member states, Ireland's rejection of it means that it should simply not be an issue any more.

Interestingly enough, however, very few from the YES camp were open to saying that out loud. Opting for an "as far as Ireland's concerned...but the other states still have to decide..." approach already has me feeling slightly uneasy. How this will play out over the coming weeks and months will yet to be seen.

It amazed me watching the coverage on RTE how much contempt certain ministers had for the electorate itself. People such as Dick Roche were seen to be suggesting that the reason for a NO vote was that the Irish people were frightened of something they did not understand. Quite alarming coming from an elected member of government.

Eamon Gilmore of the Labour Party and YES campaign, however, remarked that the Irish people had made an informed decision and that decision should be respected. At least some on the YES side have a bit of respect for people's decision maing ability, bearing in mind that they decided to elect most of them to the Dail in the first place.

I hope that this respect is carried also by an Taoiseach to the EU next week. Already there are accusations of the Irish being "ungrateful" for all that Europe has done for them, with one French lady in Brussels goings so far as to say that Ireland should ratify the treaty on nothing but gratitude alone. Thank goodness no-one was worried about Ireland being bullied as a small nation by the might of the EU itself...

In any case the people of Ireland have said NO to Lisbon. That should mean that Lisbon won't be on the table any more. I hope that Brian Cowen also goes to Brussels with an attitude of presenting the decision of the people, rather than appologising for them.

Certainly other things will arise, and other treaties will come in order to further develop the workings of the EU. But speaking from a Northern Irish on-looker's perspective, give ALL citizens of European Union Member States the chance to vote next time.

After all, is that not what democracy's all about?