national |
miscellaneous |
news report
Monday April 28, 2003 17:47
by Lily de Sylva - CDI
lilydesylva at hotmail dot com
026 47352
Government from the bottom up
Have you heard of the Convention on the Future of Europe?They want to change E.U. legislation,bring in a constitution,and make democracy more effective.They actually WANT to find out our opinion,so we'd better tell them.They HAVE TO consider individual written requests.It would be a good idea to do this before the Greek summit on June 20. Write to;Council of Europe,175 Rue de la Loi, b-1048 Brussels. Check out the convention site http://european-convention.eu.int or the Futurum public debate site http://europa.eu.int/futurum/index_fr.htm In Ireland contact Dick Roche TD,John Bruton TD, Prionsias de Rossa. GO ON,DO IT-we might just get something we want.
Comments (3 of 3)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3Yes Lily "we might just get something we want" You mean like more 'security' laws limits to privacy, curtails on the internet and a worse cop superstate than we already have.
I do realise that the chances are slim that we can get what we want,but they are even slimmer if we don't at least try.Are you naive enough to suppose that demonstration is recognised as part of the political process?You may recall that despite demonstrations by millions across the world to stop the war in Iraq,it happened anyway. Gratifying though it is to carp about the failings of government,and it changes nothing.The only way to force government to recognise your views is to submit them formally,and that only works if plenty of people are doing it.So if you don't want a police state,erosion of your civil rights,and governments that only represent their corporate best mates,you have to demand legislation to prevent it.We play into government hands by our dissafectation.Every time we fail to vote or use what few democratic rights we do have,the opposition to corrupt government is diminished and their apparent majority increases accordingly.This is how Thatchers Tories got themselves a 17 year free lunch in the U.K. too many people who should have been undermining them sat at home staring into the middle distance.Any imrovements in civil rights,environmental laws, employment rights and anti-discrimination law for years has come from the E.U.,not the people, probably because the E.U. can hit its' member states in the pocket,their most sensitive spot.If we don't use our rights to influence E.U. policy,you can be sure that they will disappear.So fill up their offices with your demands and really make our bent governments their problem.Restricting your political protest to the streets gets you riot police with no numbers.Happy with that?
The only progressive legislation whether it relating to the environment/ working conditions arrived here courtesy of the EU.
Slagging the EU is on the same level as asking what the Romans ever did for us...
Indymedia Ireland is a media collective. We are independent volunteer citizen journalists producing and distributing the authentic voices of the people. Indymedia Ireland is an open news project where anyone can post their own news, comment, videos or photos about Ireland or related matters.