Lisbon Treaty: Europe holds breath over Irish referendum vote

Europe held its breath on Friday as Irish voters went to the polls to vote in a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

The EU is counting on Ireland to ratify the treaty after the country, accounting for less than 1 per cent of the EU's nearly half a billion population, held up the reform charter's introduction in a "No" vote last year.

Opinion polls suggest this time around Ireland will say "Yes" after securing concessions from Brussels and amid fears a second rejection would isolate the country as it battles one of the worst recessions in the western world.

But anger with the government, evidenced in protest marches, anti-Lisbon posters and sometimes obscene graffiti decrying the demise of the "Celtic Tiger" economy, could make for a tight result.

Irish 10-year debt yields have widened more than 20 basis points over the German benchmark bund since Wednesday as risk-averse investors avoid a punt on an easy "Yes".

"It's just a risk that's probably not worth taking," said Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Dublin-based brokerage Bloxham. "If there were to be a 'No' vote bond yields would just spiral out dramatically on Monday."

In the leafy middle class Dublin suburb of Booterstown, the vast majority of people asked as they departed a polling centre said they had voted in favour of the charter.

But many were doing so through gritted teeth.

"I begrudgingly voted 'Yes' because I felt I had to, to a certain degree," said David Early, a 28-year-old photographer.

Prime Minister Brian Cowen, who could lose his job if he presides over a second defeat, has warned rejection could spark an exodus of foreign investment and has urged people to set aside their feelings about him when they tick the ballot paper.

But his pleas have angered many people struggling with unemployment, higher taxes and the possible prospect of lower social welfare payments in the next austerity budget.

"I wouldn't vote for anything this government wanted," said unemployed Patrick Nalty, 50, after voting in inner city Dublin, where walls have been plastered with campaign posters.

Turnout was slow across the country but polling centres are open until 2100 GMT.

The Lisbon Treaty, designed to speed up decision-making in the EU, give it a long-term president and a stronger foreign policy chief, needs to be ratified by all 27 member states in order to take effect. continues here

EDITOR'S Comment: It would seem as if media pundits are talking this up as a foregone conclusion, this in itself is telling, yet if truth be told, such a refusal to accept the wishes of a nation-state, speaks more about the lie of democracy™ than endorsement by any gaggle of perfidious politicians. We await the outcome of this vote, yet realise fully, that all the forces of anti-nation have and are being used, against both this small nation, Ireland and its people and indeed other nations in eastern Europe, quite simply the democracy™ they tell you, you have, is a lie, agree, parrot the party-line and liberty is yours, dissent and freedom is a yearned for state.

Czech court halts signing of EU treaty for now

PRAGUE, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Czech President Vaclav Klaus must not ratify the European Union's Lisbon Treaty until the top court rules on a complaint filed this week against the document, the court said in a letter to the president.

The Czech Republic may soon become the last country in the European Union which has not ratified the treaty, meant to give the bloc a bigger global influence and make it more operational.

Irish voters cast ballots on Friday in a referendum on the reform, and opinion polls suggested it would pass, unlike last year when the country shocked the rest of Europe by rejecting the document.

Klaus, a right-wing eurosceptic who opposes any further EU integration, has been delaying ratification, although the treaty has been approved by both houses of Czech parliament.

He has made clear he would wait for the complaint by a group of conservative lawmakers. continues here

Vatican issues Lisbon Treaty warning to Irish voters

The Vatican has made an unexpected last-minute intervention on the eve of Ireland's Lisbon Treaty referendum with a warning the European Union threatens the country's "identity, traditions and history".



As Irish voters go the polls for a second time on the treaty, "No" campaigners have seized on comments made by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, during the Pope's visit to the Czech Republic.

The comments followed unhappiness in the Vatican that the EU refused to recognise Europe's Christian heritage in the text of the Lisbon Treaty.

The EU has also upset Catholics in the past by ruling abortion provision should be treated as a "medical service" no different from any other treatment.

"Individual European countries have their own identity. The EU prescribes its laws or views to them and they do not have to fit with their traditions and history. Some countries are logically resisting this – for example, Ireland," said Cardinal Bertone.

"If Europe recognised homosexual couples as equal to marriage, for example, it would go against its own history. And it would be right to stand against it. The Church wants to encourage states in this."

Coir, a Catholic group that has claimed that religious faith and Ireland's anti-abortion laws are under threat from the EU, welcomed the comments.

"We are very pleased that Cardinal Bertone has come out and said explicitly that the EU is imposing secular values on Ireland," said spokesman Brian Hickey. "It is because the EU has a secular agenda that we are resisting the Lisbon Treaty.

Noel Treanor, the Bishop of Down and Connor, last week lined up with mainstream political parties to tell churchgoers that they could vote for the Lisbon Treaty "without reserve and in good conscience".

But Declan Ganley, the leader of Libertas, which is campaigning for a No vote, said Cardinal Bertone represented the Church's true position.

"I welcome these comments and encourage all practicing Catholics to take them on board before they cast their ballots," he said.

The Irish are voting on the treaty for a second time after rejecting it in a referendum last June.

Brian Cowen, the Irish Prime Minister, has promised voters that he has secured "legal guarantees" from the EU that Ireland's traditional Catholic stance on the family and abortion will remain untouched.

"Europe has listened to the concerns of the Irish people as expressed by them in last year's vote," he said.

Many shoppers in Galway, which registered a strong No vote last year, yesterday (THURS) rejected the claim that Europe, or Mr Cowen, had listened.

Sean Boyle, an unemployed man, aged 27, from Donegal, said: "It is still the same treaty, nothing has changed. We have already had our say – it was no."

Sorcha O'Sullivan, Magaretta Cooney, Georgia Bull, Michelle Daly and Eimear Costello, five Galway based female students, agreed.

"Why don't they listen? No still means no," said Miss Costello.

Irish bookmakers have predicted a pro-treaty vote, a verdict backed up by opinion polls which give the "Yes" camp 55 per cent of the vote.

"It is looking like a foregone conclusion at this stage," said Leon Blanche of Boylesports, which has already paid out to Yes vote backers. continues here

Britain ratifies EU treaty

BRITAIN has officially ratified the controversial Lisbon Treaty, it was announced today.


The Government confirmed that the final stages of passing the agreement have been completed.


But the future of the deal is still in doubt as EU leaders consider how to respond to Ireland’s surprise referendum “no” vote last month.


Under the UK’s ratification process, both houses of Parliament must pass the treaty.


The Queen then gives Royal Assent, and signs goatskin “instruments of ratification” along with the Foreign Secretary.


These are then sealed, bound in blue leather, and deposited with the Italian ministry of foreign affairs in Rome.


A spokesman for the Foreign Office said all these stages had now been completed.


“The documents were lodged in Rome yesterday,” he said.


Foreign Secretary David Miliband is due to deliver a statement to Parliament on the matter later. continues here

SOLD OUT TO EUROPE: BROWN MAKES QUEEN SIGN AWAY OUR SOVEREIGNTY

GORDON Brown was last night accused of betraying Britain with a “grubby”surrender to Brussels.

Under a cloak of secrecy, the Government finally ratified the Lisbon Treaty earlier this week and committed the country to a new deluge of European meddling. 

In a sign of the Prime Minister’s personal embarrassment over the betrayal, the historic step was only made public yesterday – 24 hours after the covert ceremony had taken place. 

The instrument of ratification was signed by the Queen, who had no choice. Because Mr Brown had signed the treaty, she was constitutionally forced to follow suit.  

The document was then flown in a diplomatic bag to Rome and delivered to the Italian Foreign Ministry at noon on Wednesday. 

Mr Brown was last night facing widespread revolt and even the threat of further legal action after forcing the treaty into law without the promised referendum. 

Tory Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “Gordon Brown has no democratic or moral authority to sign Britain up to what is a renamed EU constitution. This move is a total breach of trust with the British people and a flagrant breach of his solemn election promise. It is a sign of how arrogant and out of touch this Government has become that it is totally uninterested in what the British people want on Europe.

“It also means that the Government is joining in the ugly bullying of the Irish people, who have clearly rejected this treaty in a referendum. Trying to push ahead with the treaty shows an utter lack of respect for the Irish voters’ democratic decision. 

“As long as the Irish decision is not reversed, the EU treaty will not be in force at the next general election. A new Conservative Government would then take back the instrument of ratification and put the treaty to a referendum, recommending a ‘No’ vote.  

“That is the honourable and democratic thing to do.” 

He pointed out that Mr Brown signed the treaty last year in a bizarre solo ceremony separate from the EU’s 26 other national leaders. 

Mr Hague added: “Whether it’s Brown turning up late to sign the treaty or slipping out the news that they’ve finally handed over the crucial document, Labour has never had the guts to come out and put a case for the repackaged EU constitution.” 

Tory backbencher Douglas Carswell, a leading Euro-sceptic, said: “The way this treaty was signed was underhand and grubby and a betrayal of the UK. It shows this treaty has no proper legitimacy. And I think it also shows how useless our Parliament is. 

“While MPs were debating their expenses and deciding whose snout should go in which trough, another serious erosion of British sovereignty was taking place.” 

Lorraine Mullally, of the Euro-sceptic think-tank Open Europe, said: “The Government has been dishonest and cowardly about this right from the beginning. 

“First Gordon Brown signed it in Brussels in secret and now they’ve ratified it on the sly. They are ashamed of it because they know people don’t want it. Gordon Brown has behaved in a cowardly way because he is scared of the voters.” continues here

President Sarkozy demands second Irish referendum on EU treaty

Ireland must hold a second referendum on the Lisbon treaty, Nicolas Sarkozy told colleagues yesterday in the clearest sign of a European Union plan to try to save the document ratified by 21 other countries. 

A second vote would have to take place in an attempt to reverse Ireland's rejection of the treaty last month by a margin of 53.4 per cent to 46.6 per cent, the French President told MPs from his party at a private meeting. 

Mr Sarkozy, who is acting as chairman of the EU while France holds its presidency for six months, has denied in public that there is a secret plan to force a second vote and has said that the solution must be proposed by the Irish Government at the next EU summit in October. “The Irish will have to vote again,” he was reported to have told a meeting in his office — words that are likely to inflame public opinion in Ireland, which Mr Sarkozy will visit on Monday. 

His trip is billed as a listening exercise, but Irish voters may now wonder whether Mr Sarkozy and other EU leaders have already made up their minds. Details emerged in Paris of a plan to stage a rerun of the vote backed by guarantees that Ireland will keep its EU commissioner as well as its military neutrality, its veto over tax policy and its right to set its abortion laws.

Pressure on Ireland has been increased by the continuing pace of ratification by other parliaments. Britain passed the document the week after the Irish “no” vote, followed by Cyprus, Belgium and the Netherlands. 

The treaty, which was intended to streamline decision-making in an enlarged EU, cannot be implemented until it is ratified by all member states. It has yet to be passed by the parliaments of the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain and Sweden, and is awaiting formal presidential signature in Germany and Poland. 

Senior EU politicians have called for the Irish to vote again in the spring because they want to conduct next June's European Parliament elections under the more streamlined rules. 

An official in Paris confirmed that Mr Sarkozy made the remark, while the French President's office declined to comment. The reported remarks were attacked by Declan Ganley, of the Libertas group, one of the most prominent anti-treaty campaigners. “This typifies the anti-democratic nature of what's going on in Brussels,” he told RTE radio. 

Mr Sarkozy's office said that he would not present a plan to the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen. “The President is coming to listen to the Irish, to listen to what Brian Cowen tells him. He is not coming to make proposals,” one adviser to Mr Sarkozy said. continues here

95% SAY QUIT THE EU

NINETY-FIVE per cent of Express.co.uk readers would vote to leave the European Union if a referendum was held on Britain’s membership.

The staggering figure comes in the wake of Gordon Brown’s refusal to hold a referendum on the hated Lisbon Treaty - despite promising to at the last general election.
 
Nearly 10,000 furious readers voted in our poll after we decided to hand democracy back to the people – and gave you a chance to have your say on the way current EU works. 
 
And angry voters all over the UK responded – desperate for the Prime Minister to listen to them and take back power from unelected Eurocrats in Brussels.
 

UK Independence Party Leader Nigel Farage said he was "delighted" with the Express.co.uk poll result.

He said: “Over the last few years we have seen how the EU are prepared to bypass the democratic will of the people by ignoring the results of referendums.
 
“Our own government was so scared of the result here that they refused to allow us to have a say on our future.

"It's clear that if we want to remain a sovereign nation then the only way is out: It's time we governed ourselves again."

With the European Union determined to forge ahead on the EU constitution – ignoring the views of Irish, French and Dutch voters – we also wanted to know WHY you thought what you did – and you had plenty to say.

One MyExpress member said: “Great Britain signed up to be a member of the Common Market, which was a good idea.

"We the public have never wanted to be subservient to any European State, indeed we have been fighting against this since 1066, long enough for the Government of the day to know the mind of its people.”
 
Many readers said the European issue – especially in the wake of the Lisbon Treaty debacle - would be crucial when they come to vote at the next general election.
 
Another furious MyExpress member said: “I will consider all parties’ policies at the next election and will vote for the one that has the most chance of getting us out of the EU.”
 
Another added: “In 1973 we joined the EEC to trade only. That was the original intention of the European community.
 
“We didn't join to give ourselves to be ruled by another nation and it's so annoying that an unelected Prime Minister has ratified the Lisbon treaty without consulting us.”