In Dublin these days they say there were three responses to the
recent referendum on approving the EU’s constitutional “Lisbon
Treaty.” These included: Yes, No, and “I’ll tink about it after
this pint!”
The final result was a clear victory for the “No’s” by 53.4% to
46.6%, with a surprising number of farmers, blue collar workers and
small business people in an overwhelming number of counties voting
with the majority. A record turnout of 53% of the electorate
suggests that there is little chance soon of a call for a
revote.
Twenty-six other European capitals were left in a state of
confusion over the failure to secure a necessary unanimous
agreement on the establishment of the much lobbied institutional
reforms strengthening the EU’s centralized constitutional
structure.
Having been rebuffed by the voters in France and Denmark in 2005
whose negative reaction to their referendum killed the earlier
constitutional treaty, the European Union legislators decided to
leave the matter solely in the hands of their respective national
legislative bodies. Only Ireland’s constitution required getting
approval directly from its voters through a referendum.
What the Irish were faced with was a 269-page document that,
among other things, created a full-time President of the European
Union, a foreign policy chief officer and a fully staffed
diplomatic service. It strengthened the unifying effect of the
European monetary system and essentially ignored NATO by creating a
mutual defense clause.
Other items included the fact that the European Court of Justice
would be able to rule on national legislation. There was an
exception for Britain and Ireland, but the Irish voters don’t trust
such promises. The ambition of a new sovereign Europe was made
quite clear in the minds of the majority of Irish voters.
SURPRISINGLY THE FIGHT to preserve the special “Irishness” of the
vote was led by a wealthy Englishman with a posh accent and
extensive U.S. business contacts. A rather mixed group of
conservative Catholics, left-wingers and nationalists were reported
by the press to have made up a formidable following for the
self-anointed “Irish” hero, Declan Ganley.
The former Fine Gael prime minister, Garret Fitzgerald, said
that in his estimation the working class areas voted No and the
wealthier constituencies were Yes voters. He opined, “…the vote
was very class divided, which is very disturbing in its own
right.”
Perhaps most upset by the Irish vote was the French president,
Nicolas Sarkozy. It was his intention, as France was about to
assume a six-month presidency of the EU, to launch serious programs
addressing immigration, energy, climate change and defense issues.
As it is, the energetic French leader will have to turn his
attention to some form of watered down political solution to either
satisfy the Irish or simply go around them — which destroys the
basic principle of the union in the first place.
Such is the herd instinct in Europe these days that there is an
aggressive unwillingness to credit the Irish voters with the true
value of their independence and democracy. As far as the
politicians and many commentators are concerned, the Irish are an
ungrateful crowd unwilling to recognize all that Europe has meant
to their country economically.
The Irish are quite aware of the vast material changes that have
occurred in the last twenty plus years. But it was the Asians and
Americans who first saw the value of Irish energy and technical
talent — not the European neighbors.
The European leaders conceived of the EU as a counterbalance to
American economic, political, and even strategic power.
Unfortunately for these new European empire builders, the majority
of the Irish voters aren’t interested in these objectives.
THE AMBITION of the Europhiles is to coerce a change in Irish
popular sentiment or proceed without them. Of course, this
droit du seigneur is exactly what the new Europe is
supposed not to be claiming. Perhaps the Irish have a
particular instinct to discern the oppressive heel of the potential
lord.
If and when the Irish, who have a different sense of time from
others across the pond, decide they truly can maintain their
individuality and independence of decision-making, they may join
whole-heartedly with their European cousins.
It would be smart for Brussels not to attempt to push around
Dublin. The greatest strength of the Irish is their ability to
accept pain. They also do not take well to anything they conceive
as even remotely superior in attitude.
