Lisbon II

As the June 20th dawns it's clear that the Irish Taoisearch, Brian Cowen, have plagded to hold a second Lisboa referendum. This because of what he describe as the legal guarantees Ireland wanted after the rejection of the first referendum last year.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I remember, Ireland never wanted any legal guarantees for the Lisboa Treaty: the People rejected the entire Treaty. The Irish people killed it, just in the same way as the French and the Dutch did some four years ago. And the Irish once more back in 2001. And still, there's some bright minds in the European Commission who still seems to not taking the hint.

I couldn't care less of the legal guarantees mr Cowen and mr Martin have brought back to the Emerald Isle. Of course, I'm not less cynical (even when it comes to Irish issues) that I'm willing to use the abortion clause (one of the EU guarantees to Ireland) against the Union. I see the interesting situation in the future when the third EU referendum are put forward to the Norwegian people to decide our relations to the rest of the continent; those (Quislings and Bennedict Arnolds) voting in faviour of the Union is, by defenition, also accepting the Irish social policy in a issue not free of controverse. Hence, the fanatic Unionists in the Young Liberals who want to put contraceptive pills in the tills in the discount stores will accept the Irish Protocol. I'm quite in favour of local democracy and national suveregnity; but still if I'm going to surrender to a foreign power like the Union, at least I will have the possibility to change the rest of the Union to the better. (At least that's one of the pro-Union arguments). It's al a big laugh.

Anyway. It's a rerun. Sinn Féin and the People Before Profit Alliance have, together with a quite unclear and unpredictable Libertas have lost most of the arguments against Lisbon through the guarantees, and with them most of the soft and pragamtic voters. However; the power by a single example have perhaps given sceptics all around the Union, and outside it, their most valueble argument: The Commission and the Leaders never listens to those who elected them.

I really hopes this will be taken note of in the Conservative and Social Democratic leadership as the value of the people or the value of their meanings seems to be non-existing for the Union. And the Conservatives blames the Social Democrats for running a state who administrate too much of the citizen's lives. I just recalls Margot Wallström on Newsnight after the Irish No: The Union isn't about the people, it's about the Leaders.