“European Referendum.” The general reaction is indifference by a large majority here in Clare and can be likened to a Latin Exam , Largely irrelevant and complicated.
Complicated I agree. But what happens within the European union is never irrelevant, It affects every one, and some time next year, us good citizens will be asked to ratify another document from Europe.
The Greens and I as a member of the Green Party have campaigned against every European treaty. Now as a party of Government the question has to be asked “do the demands of responsible Government require the Greens to follow the government line on this?”
I am generally well disposed to the European project and to be honest I did not agree with the “no” position taken by the Green party in previous referenda. Being Brutally honest the Green party position was dictated by high profile individual’s within the party. The likes of me pondering in the conservative shadows accepted this, justifying that acceptance with the argument that Good government requires Good opposition, and as a consequence of the debate required by good opposition the electorate will be better informed.
But were people better informed as a result of a vigorous campaign with different groups campaigning for a No or Yes Vote. I would have to say “No” .A quick assessment of a cross section of Irish citizenry reveals an astonishing lack of knowledge as to how Ireland functions, never mind the European Union.
What has to be recognised is that most groups adopting positions “for” and “against” a European Treaty do so for their own self interest rather than what is the greater good for the future of the state and Europe itself. This does not lend itself to impartial dissemination of information.
What also as to be recognised is that in a referendum, you may not get an answer to the question that was asked . “Will you vote yes for the New Reform treaty … No Because I don’t like the government” That was the sentiment expressed from the platform of the recent protest against removal of slots from Shannon.
So should the question be what the current parties of opposition will do? Will they adopt a different position to the Government parties . I doubt it very much that they will, the positions of Labour and Fine Gael is a mix of not alienating themselves from the middle ground, consistency and responsibility. The debate will revert to the usual naysayers engaging in the same old tired rhetoric. So the Final question I will ask is given the above should the upcoming treaty for reform be put to a referendum? . There is strong argument that in a parliamentary democracy that it shouldn’t but that is hypothetical due to a finding of the supreme court some years ago .
This document will be called the Ttreaty for Reform and is an amended version the constitutional treaty. A document the pesky French and Dutch rejected two years ago. This time no one is taking any chances and the treaty will not be put to the people by way of referendum in most countries in the EU. The likelihood is that Ireland will be the only country that will have to put this treaty to a referendum, so lets do ourselves a favour and not take it for granted.