An Open Letter To The People Of Ireland

I wish there were some magic words or some great prose I could muster or recite but we are all sick and tired of the arguments and fear mongering, you will certainly be even more so than me. You, the good people of Ireland voted right the first time, it is such a shame that decision could not be respected. You voted right because you voted how you felt and in good conscience.

Yes, I am clearly in favour of a NO vote tomorrow, and though the polls say I am in for a grand disappointment I have not lost faith that Ireland will vote NO again. I am not going to list all the reasons why I think this, again, except this one reason. Tomorrow you vote on exactly the same Constitutional Treaty that you have already rejected. Not one sentence, word or comma will have changed. This is almost certainly the very last treaty Ireland can vote for as this one hands all the marbles to the likes of Barroso and Blair, and they can do what they like after this one and Ireland will be in the same boat as all the rest of us – with no say at all.

If your concerns are immigration then a YES vote takes more control from The Oireachtas and Irish courts and hand it over to Brussels, you have seen in the last year the EU already can VETO your own courts. If your concerns are religious and perhaps even about abortion, then Bruno brings news from the Vatican that you may wish to read. If it is economic then I would say that as you (Ireland) are America’s truest best friend in the World there is no way they would see economic damage done to you, and also that your successes have been from decisions on tax and employment taken much closer to home and that should be protected, not handed away.

It must not be very nice being dictated to from Europe in one ear, and pleaded to from English, Scottish and Welsh voices in the other. I would say I do not envy your position, but I do, I wish I had the opportunity to vote on this so I could register my opinion and exercise my democratic will. But I don’t and I can’t. You might not like that the hopes of so many hinge on your votes tomorrow but they do. The biggest problem with the EU is that the bigger and more powerful it gets, the smaller the pool of decision makers becomes. We the people in our respective countries on the street and in the pub become less and less influential and have less say the more and more our national governments and the EU take powers away from us.  There is an ocean of millions of people who's opinions and decisions are ignored, we look to you, again, tomorrow.

So, please, do what is right and proper and vote with your conscience and exercise that precious right that you have; and that you have secured for yourselves by protecting your rights in your Constitution. If you truly believe that Lisbon is right for Ireland and for Europe then you should vote YES. [But I, not so secretly hope your cars breakdown, chains fall of bikes and that a torrential rain follows you every time you step outside.]

For those of you who are looking to vote NO, please do so, and for all the same and right reasons. Please also remember to make sure all of your friends and family who are voting the same way make it to polling. [To you I hope your cars are in excellent working order, and that the sun shines and the birds sing for you all day.]

For those of you who are undecided, please, please keep reading and listening to all the papers to the TV, to your friends and families. It does matter which way you vote, but it is always better to have elections decided by the biggest possible turnout. If you do not, you may look back and regret not being involved and having your say when you had the chance to, and tomorrow is that chance.

Now, back to being partial.

Ireland, please vote NO!