Tweede Euro-referendum Ierland ?

[Dr. Marc-Alexander Fluks]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Bron:   The Irish Independent
Datum:  25 augustus 2008
Auteur: Senan Molony
URL:    http://www.independent.ie/national-news/minister-admits-we-need-new-lisbon-poll-1462444.html


Minister admits we need new Lisbon poll
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European Affairs Minister Dick Roche raised the prospect of a second Lisbon
Treaty referendum last night, saying he believes it is "the appropriate
response" to the country's continuing political crisis.

Mr Roche's controversial comments, in an interview with the Irish
Independent, came as the Catholic Primate of All Ireland yesterday voiced
fears that some Christians had voted against the treaty because the EU was
becoming ever more secular in its outlook.

Mr Roche said: "My personal view is that a referendum is the appropriate
response to the position we are in. This is very much a personal view at this
stage." He added: "If we want to retain our position as a constructive EU
member state, we cannot simply sit on our hands, as some would have us do,
and keep saying that 'No' means 'No'."

Mr Roche is the first minister to publicly suggest an eventual re-run of the
treaty referendum, defeated last June.

Some members of Government may be relieved that the unpalatable truth is now
being aired - but the minister's intervention will dismay 'No' campaigners,
many of whom had predicted after their victory that the Government would not
heed the result.

The minister sought to downplay any controversy about his remarks by saying
the Government would make no decision on the matter until after its detailed
analysis of the referendum defeat had been completed and considered.

A government spokesman said last night: "Mr Roche is not calling for a second
referendum to be put. That would not be a fair reflection. The Government is
instead following the steps it said it would take in the wake of the
referendum outcome."

Mr Roche yesterday attended the Humbert Summer School, where Cardinal Sean
Brady warned of Christian "unease" at the European project and a growing
belief that EU policy was not formulated on the basis of religious values,
but on purely secular terms. He said he believed this had played a role in
the defeat of the treaty.

The differing views from senior members of Church and State will this week
reopen the entire Lisbon debate - but may not bring closer the finding of a
solution that would ensure our continued full-membership of the EU.

The Government is especially wary of being seen to be offer a prescription to
the people before it even receives an analysis of why the people voted 'No'.

The results of a major survey of public opinion on the referendum will be
received next month, and the Taoiseach will then present his analysis of why
the treaty was defeated to other EU leaders. A Government spokesman said
yesterday that some of the reasons cited for voting 'No' had contradicted one
another.

Ireland has been given until October to tell our partner states what we
intend to do to rectify the situation.

"We now need to take a hard look at our situation within the EU," Mr Roche
said. "We have to recognise, however, that all other member states - 26
sovereign, democratic parliaments - are likely to have ratified the treaty
by the end of the year. This will leave Ireland in an isolated position. In
the view of the other member states, we will be preventing the EU from
equipping itself to deal with the many political and economic challenges
facing today's Europe."

The European Affairs Minister privately does not see any chance of resolving
the problem by trying to put elements of Lisbon into Irish law by passing
Bills in the Dail. If the legislative route was not adopted the first time
out, it could not be resorted to now, he believes.

"'Not an inch' is not a policy that has much to commend it in a dynamic
Europe that wants to move forward," Mr Roche said. "We have to explore all
possible solutions. We cannot exclude the possibility that, at some stage,
and in the right circumstances, it may be necessary to consult the people
once again. My personal view is that a referendum is the appropriate response
to the position we are in; this is very much a personal view at this stage."

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(c) 2008 Irish Independent

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