Referendum results hold lessons for Irish

The result of the French and Dutch referendums on the EU Constitution has caused such a shockwave in the political and media establishments that they are unable see the obvious.

While there was a small far-right component to the "Non" vote, exit polls found one of the main reasons for the result was the neo-liberal ie Thatcherite nature of the constitution. This reflected the No campaign, which was largely composed of a large section of the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, the Green Party and smaller leftist groups.

In France, the big loser was Socialist leader Francois Hollande, who backed the "Oui" side, while the winners were his leftist rival Laurent Fabius and Marie-George Buffet, who reinvigorated the Communist Party by building a broad left "Non" campaign, which may lead to a strong left coalition in the next general election.