It’s our patriotic duty to read the EU treaty we’ve been asked to vote on

WELL, are we going to vote for it or not?

Tue, 06 Mar, 2012 - 00:00

Fergus Finlay is a former political activist and adviser to three governments, the former head of the children's charity Barnardos, a writer and a broadcaster.

We’re going to have a referendum — I’m guessing it will be soon — and it will be a crucial decision. This time, it will be a much more crucial decision for us than it will be for Europe as a whole. But the outcome in Ireland will be closely watched, let there be no doubt about that. And the result will be influential beyond our shores.

No, I’m not talking about Euro 2012. We fought hard to participate in that, and no doubt we’ll set everything else to one side when it comes to the need to do our patriotic duty and cheer our country on. Already thousands of Irish men and women have mortgaged at least a bit of their futures to try to raise the cash to be there, in Poland and the Ukraine. And all we want is that the Boys in Green should transcend the limitations of talent, and put character and teamwork on display, in order to make their country proud of them.