Only the people can have a true mandate

A FIANNA Fail TD has the audacity to cite “a mandate’ less than a week after the party was decimated at the local elections across Ireland, and humbled at the by-elections in Dublin.

Yet Micheál Martin has the temerity to claim that “parties opposed to the (Lisbon) Treaty have no mandate to continue working against the best interests of the country”. Firstly, a mandate was declared on June 12 last year when 53% of those that voted chose to reject the Treaty. Secondly, “the best interests of the country” are subjective. Thirdly, Mr Martin assumes the best interests of the country involve subjugating Irish legislation beneath EU legislation, designed by unelected EU Commissioners, and ratified by the European Parliament, of which Irish representation will be diminished by more than 50%.

Fourthly, we are a republic. Republics are grounded in debate and interaction. Decisions are not decided by fiat. Every citizen in Ireland has a mandate to stimulate debate. Those with “no mandate” asked questions which the Government failed to answer. Mr Martin would be better advised to prepare his answers than avoiding the questions.