“Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity”

This may be my last Green Column as a public representative. Local Elections are to be held on the fifth of June and my fate is in the hands of the electorate of Ennis West and Ennis Town Council. I am passionate about the European Union, often to the annoyance of my political peers who tell me that there are no votes in Europe. So I will probably annoy them further by using this opportunity to drone on a bit about the EU.

Much has been written about the failure nationally to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. However, there are constituencies where the majority voted ‘Yes’ to Lisbon. Clare, for example, stands out in contrast as the only constituency outside of the handful of Leinster constituencies to return a yes vote.