Cowen should stand tall for his small nation

AS I grasp things, the Treaty of Lisbon can only be enacted when it is ratified by each of the 27 states of the European Union.

Now it is reported that France and Germany are piling pressure on Taoiseach Brian Cowen, saying no expansion of the EU will occur until Ireland ratifies the treaty.

Why is this? We are a sovereign nation and a free people, or so I thought.

The French president plans to visit us later this month to talk sense to us. Will it be OK for Mr Cowen to go to France to persuade their government to ask the people what they think?

I find it very puzzling that Mr Cowen seems to be siding with the French and Germans against his own people. It is wrong. He should be able to stand up to their bullying and bluster. Instead, he meekly does their bidding and all our so-called leaders show the same spinelessness.

Well, Mr Cowen we in Rebel Cork don’t take kindly to your milk-and-water ways. Remind the bully boys we are a sovereign nation — every bit as much as they are. Get a bit of backbone, man, and remember, as Yeats said, you are part of the “indomitable Irishry” .

Stand up for the rights of small nations.

Patrick Murphy

15 Adelaide Street

Cork