Lisbon II - We must all understand the issues

The Taoiseach Brian Cowen informed the Dáil that the second referendum on the Lisbon treaty has been set for October 2. The Irish electorate rejected the treaty in June of last year by 53.4% to 46.6%.

Opponents of the treaty waged a spirited campaign on issues that did not form part of the treaty, but proponents failed to get those issues clarified at the time. Many of the backers had not even read the treaty that they were supporting.

As a result of the defeat of the referendum the Government secured commitments from partners in the European Union clarifying the issues that had been raised during the previous campaign. The recent EU summit agreed to address the concerns of Irish voters.

Ireland obtained legally binding guarantees stipulating that nothing in the treaty will interfere with Irish control over the country’s tax rates, impede on the country’s military neutrality, nor impinge on existing constitutional provisions relating to social and family law and the right to life.

The summit agreed that the Irish request for guarantees would be incorporated as a protocol in a future EU treaty. The EU had already agreed that each country would keep its own commissioner, with the result that many of the issues that figured prominently in the No campaign have since been removed from the equation.

It is now incumbent on voters to prepare themselves to vote intelligently. People should familiarise themselves with the issues, so that there can be a mature debate on the document and the merits and drawbacks the treaty itself. This should apply especially to the politicians who advocate that people vote one way or another. Before calling on people to vote, those politicians should at least read the document this time.

The Irish Examiner hopes that in the coming weeks and months there will be an informed and considered debate about the issues so that when the people go to the polls on October 2, they will vote in an educated fashion, having carefully considered the arguments on both sides of the ratification issue.

The treaty is a complex document that does not lend itself to easy reading. It is not likely to excite the public, but it is of great national importance, so people should inform themselves. The politicians and the so-called opinion formers have an onerous responsibility.

People need to consider the consequences of either accepting or rejecting the treaty. Ireland has undoubtedly gained greatly from membership of the EU, but many people will argue that we owe it to Europe to reject the treaty, just as others will argue that we should ratify the agreement on the same grounds.

Few governments had the courage to allow the people to vote on the Lisbon treaty and those did voted against it. Voters in France and Holland rejected it under the name of the “EU Constitution” in 2005.

People should vote on the merits of the treaty itself, not on domestic political considerations. The vote is not – and should not – be turned into a referendum on the Government’s performance on domestic issues.