éirígí attack plans for Lisbon 2 Referendum

sligo | eu | press release

Tuesday June 23, 2009 20:42

by Sligo leftie - None

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has condemned the decision by Brian Cowen’s administration to hold a re-run of the Lisbon Treaty referendum, which was democratically rejected last year.

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has condemned the decision by Brian Cowen’s administration to hold a re-run of the Lisbon Treaty referendum, which was democratically rejected last year.

Casey said the decision exposes the fundamentally undemocratic nature of the European Union and the contempt with which the political establishments in both Dublin and Brussels view the Irish people.

He said: “By ignoring the democratic decision of the Irish people last June to reject the Lisbon Treaty and by their decision to re-run the exact same referendum in October, the EU and the Brian Cowen’s administration have shown yet again the utter contempt with which they view the Irish people and the notion of democracy. From the time this Treaty was voted down, nothing whatsoever has been changed in it. Not a single paragraph, not a single word. The referendum the Irish people are being forced to vote for later this year will be exactly the same as that which they rejected last year.”

He added: “The so-called declarations and guarantees being given on certain issues are a red herring. They are meaningless and will have no legal force whatsoever as they will not be part of the Treaty itself. As such, they will not override the actual content of the Treaty. To put it simply, they will be meaningless political promises from untrustworthy politicians at both European and national level."

“Once again, this administration are attempting to bulldoze through, using a combination of coercion and deceit, a treaty that will further increase the fundamentally undemocratic nature of the EU. A vote for the Lisbon Treaty will further erode this state’s sovereignty, speeding up moves towards the creation of an EU super-state. The Treaty will see a further abandonment of the state’s neutrality as the militarisation of the EU will substantially increase, with moves towards an EU army intensifying and the establishment in the Treaty of the so-called mutual defence pact."

“The Treaty also continues to promote the right-wing ideology of greed over need, of privatisation and is fundamentally anti-worker, with negative consequences for the rights of workers, rights which need to be strengthened, not diminished. These are the very policies and values that have created the economic recession that we are currently in, that has led to massive unemployment, wage reductions, income levies and cuts in essential public services, such as health and education. For Irish workers to vote for Lisbon would be akin to turkeys voting for Christmas.”

Casey concluded: “Cowen and his colleagues have completely ignored the concerns of the Irish people over the Treaty. They have failed to secure any changes to it because they never once sought any changes to it. But Cowen and his cronies in Leinster House and in Brussels need to understand quite clearly that when we said No, we meant No. What part of No do these people not understand?”

http://eirigisligeach.blogspot.com/2009/06/eirigi-attac....html

save preference

Comments (11 of 11)

Lisbon two campaign

by Helen

Tue Jun 23, 2009 21:33

Will eirigi work with Bree against the treaty in Sligo?

Changing to vote Yes.

by Erasmus O' Carroll

Wed Jun 24, 2009 03:29

If we want to stave off a return to the Eighties, to wholesale poverty, desperation, even mass hunger, we will have to vote Yes, much as I hate to.

I voted No in a very different country last time out -

wish I had that luxury now !

erasmus

by redder

Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:44

How will voting yes stave off all of that erasmus?

Of luxuries and different countries

by MichaelY - CAEUC and IAWM

Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:06

Dear Erasmus,

Your eloquent but conceptually discordant message deserves a few questions - you can hopefully reflect and provide us all with some responses.

(1) What and who changed this country of (y)ours ?
(2) What has been the specific political and economic effect of the actions of Commissioner McCreevy who consistently fought in the Commission against proper regulation of the financial institutions?
(3) Apart from greed and corruption, consistent traits of the capitalist system, can you name some of those responsible for the crash? Are they still in place for example?
(4) Lisbon says competition is the key to progress and prosperity....comment please
(5) Lisbon in its 475 plus pp of drivel has exactly 6 lines on climate change.....have you read them? Comment please.
(6) Cowen, in one of his dizzy moments, is quoted as having said that the No to Lisbon 54% plus is responsile for the crisis....comment please. And please add a footnote on Gilmore's statement, immediately after June 12th, that Lisbon is dead!!
(7) Finally we would need a bit more clarity on how a (desired by you) YES next time round would help our people defend themselves against job losses, loss of income and confidence to the political system.....

Looking forward to your responses

Competition is Good.

by Pete.

Wed Jun 24, 2009 14:23

"Lisbon says competition is the key to progress and prosperity....comment please."

Competition is the proven best way of improving almost anything.

WITHOUT competition the people of East Germany had to put up with the Trabant car.....One of the most laughed-at and derided pieces of engineering ever devised.

Capitalist West Germany was producing Mercs, Audis, VWs, BMWs at the same time...
Those cars were Bye Words for quality and reliability.

Skoda cars from Communist Checkoslovakia were the butt of jokes as well.

Why?

Lack of competition meant that the manufacturers were monopolists ..throwing any kind of rubbish at the unfortunate motorists.

One does not improve one's performance in a race ,OR IN ANYTHING ELSE, unless someone else is hot on one's heels.

.

Helen

by Watcher

Wed Jun 24, 2009 16:53

Helen, is Bree going to campaign against this referendum do you know? Has he made any comment on it?

He's Still a member of the Peoples Movement

by ray

Thu Jun 25, 2009 20:12

http://www.people.ie/english1.html

Ray

by Mary D

Thu Jun 25, 2009 21:13

I read Patricia McKennas statement on the peoples movement website and thought it sounded familiar. Just checked the Sligo Champion and seen that Bree has a statement about Lisbon. Four paragraphs. Three of which are word for word for what McKenna said.

Talk about blatant plagarism. Can he not think for himself?

Its not online yet. Will post it up when it comes online

Mary

by Ballytivnan rebel

Fri Jun 26, 2009 21:02

Have just read both articles Mary. You are right. Declans statement is amost the exact same as Patricias. Is that deliberate?

The EU and Lisbon 2

by Sean Murtagh - none

Sun Jul 05, 2009 10:20

stig at iolfree dot ie

I voted No the last time and intend to vote No again this time! In my opinion there has not been any great advantage to Ireland from being a member of the EU! Perhaps if we had retained our fisheries thing might be different now; at least we would have had something to fall back on!
If you look at the figures from our Department of Trade we don't really gain any monetary value from membership; despite what the IBEC website would like people to believe by quoting incorrect figures! When Imports are offset against Exports on advantage of about €10 billion seems like a pittance after more than thirty years of membership!
Anyway if we lose our hard won Democracy we lose everything!

From éirígí website

by Celia S

Sun Jul 05, 2009 14:54

Lisbon 2 – Democracy EU-Style

30/06/09

The vision of a unified Europe first articulated in the Schuman Declaration of May 9th 1950, to the effect that “the pooling of coal and steel production should immediately provide for the setting up of common foundations for economic development as a first step in the federation of Europe”, is the vision that has guided the European project since its inception. We must be under no illusion that it is the consolidation of political power in a centralized, ‘free market’ based, neo-liberal Europe that the Eurocrat establishment has as its primary objective. All European treaties throughout the last 60 years have been directed at progressing towards the achievement of this objective. Essentially this is what Lisbon 1 was about. It is what Nice 1 and 2 were about. The particulars of the ‘assurances’ or ‘guarantees’ agreed at the EU summit of June 19th notwithstanding, this is what the coming Lisbon 2 is about also.

For rest of article see: http://www.eirigi.org/latest/latest300609.html

Number of comments per page

Upcoming Events

New Events

Other Press

User Preferences

Feeds

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

Human Rights in Ireland

Lockdown Skeptics

Voltaire Network

éirígí attack plans for Lisbon 2 Referendum

Comments (11 of 11)