Use your vote for right reasons

WHATEVER about the issues which directly surround the Nice Treaty, the satisfaction rating of the Government is something that should be totally extraneous to the outcome.

Abject though their performance has been in the past few months, especially in relation to economy of the truth, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and his Government are irrelevant when it comes to voting for or against the treaty. Doubtless, it is tempting for some people to exact revenge on an administration which has displayed a breathtaking level of deceit in the manner of its complete U-turn after being returned to power in the general election. That would achieve nothing except a small measure of self-satisfaction in trying to embarrass the Taoiseach and the Government internationally.

It would also devalue a person’s vote to cast it for so trivial a reason. Today’s referendum is not a lethal weapon with which to ambush the Government. It is far more important than that.