Roll over Beethoven, the Celtic Tiger votes no

Ireland has voted no to the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. With a higher than expected turnout, over 54% voted NO. This now prompts the question WHY? Seen from the outside, to many, Ireland or the Celtic Tiger as it is often called, has benefitted enormously from its membership of the European Union. As little as 20 years ago, Ireland was experiencing a massive 'brain drain' as bright intelligent graduates were leaving the motherland in order to find work and a career. Since then it has developed a booming economy. Early signs would indicate that many felt they didn't understand what the Treaty stood for. It's easy to see why. After 6 years of hard negotiation amongst its member states, the European Constitution came briefly into being in October 2004, crafted by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. It was presented as a necessary union reform to increase the efficiency of union institutions and decision making mechanisms, but others saw it as a means to centralise power. Within 18 months it was quashed by the NO votes of both France and the Netherlands. The subsequent member talks culminated in the Lisbon Treaty.  It was designed to be a new, amending treaty that unlike an overall constitution united other treaties, in this case the 2 basic EU treaties; the Treaty on the European Union and the Treaty establishing the European community. Out went the constitutional sense of statehood, the motto, the flag and Beethoven. However, like most domestic amending legislation, it's difficult to read and this is probably one of the two main reasons that have led to the NO vote. Firstly, it's unreadable and secondly, as Shakespeare would say, ' A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet'. Many see this as a watered down version of the original constitution.  Whilst 18 out of the 27 member states have already ratified the Lisbon Treaty, many think that the EU should go back to the drawing board, yet again. There is already a sustained and increasing call for the UK to hold a referendum, something PM Gordon Brown will not wish for.

For those who are interested, there's some fresh and interesting comment from the Irish Times and there's also the Lisbon Treaty website.

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0613/breaking1.htm