On 15 juin, 20:09, D2Zabc...@googlemail.com wrote:
> IRELAND SAYS NO TO THE LISBON TREATY
>
> Irish voters have rejected the Lisbon treaty, the country's justice
> minister conceded today, in a move which throws the entire project of
> reshaping the EU into turmoil.
>
> Monitors from the Fianna Fáil party at the main count in Dublin said
> that so far the breakdown in votes showed a 52% to 48% majority for
> the no camp.
>
> "It looks like this will be a no vote," the justice minister, Dermot
> Ahern, said. "At the end of the day, for a myriad of reasons, the
> people have spoken.
>
> "We will have to wait and see what happens in the rest of the
> countries. Obviously if we are the only one to reject the treaty that
> will raise questions. We are in uncharted territories."
>
> Unofficial early polls suggested voters in most constituencies voted
> against the Lisbon treaty, the state broadcaster RTE reported.
> Official results are expected later today.
>
> The no vote was strong in many rural areas and in working-class urban
> areas, while middle-class areas appeared to be less supportive of the
> treaty than had been anticipated, RTE said.
>
> Reuters reported that in Dublin, the no camp was ahead in five
> constituencies and behind in one, while three were evenly split.
>
> Dublin accounts for about a quarter of the country's electorate.
>
> Joan Burton, an Irish Labour MP, said there had been a no majority in
> her Dublin West constituency.
>
> Speaking at the count, Burton said: "Although there was a lot of
> misinformation by the no camp in this campaign the message from this
> result is that whenever the EU draws up a treaty they should make it
> intelligible to ordinary people.
>
> "That was one of the biggest problems of this campaign – thousands and
> thousands of people couldn't even understand what the treaty was
> about."
>
> Antonio Missiroli, director of studies at the European Policy Centre
> thinktank, said: "This triggers a political crisis in Europe that
> requires strong leadership in Ireland, in Brussels and elsewhere in
> Europe.
>
> If the no vote is confirmed later today, the EU is likely to face two
> options. Either give Ireland an opt out to the treaty or shelve it
> completely.
>
> Irish government sources said they were "disappointed" at tally
> predictions of a lower-than-expected yes vote in some constituencies,
> particularly in rural areas.
>
> The bitter divisions caused by the treaty were visible at the count
> during ugly scenes involving Ireland's finance minister, Brian
> Lenihan, and members of Coir, a radical anti-abortion campaign group.
> Coir opposed the treaty on the grounds that European law could
> supplant Irish legal bans on abortion – a scenario the Irish
> government consistently said was impossible.
>
> As the minister attempted to speak to a television news crew he was
> surrounded by Coir activists who screamed at him and sang: "No, no,
> there's no no, there's no Lisbon" to the tune of 2Unlimited's No
> limits.
>
> When Burton attempted to intervene and point out that the minister had
> a right to speak she was spat at.
>
> Analysts earlier said the turnout of around 40% could tip the balance
> towards a no vote, bringing about the demise of the controversial and
> poorly understood pact.
>
> All 27 EU countries have to ratify the Lisbon treaty for it to be
> passed meaning voters in Ireland – the only country to hold a
> referendum on the issue – can veto the negotiations. Detractors
> suggest the treaty is an EU constitution in all but name.
>
> When polls closed last night, RTE reported that voter turnout had
> failed to exceed 45%.
>
> The Lisbon treaty seeks to reshape EU institutions and powers in line
> with the bloc's rapid growth in recent years to 27 nations and 495
> million people. It proposes many of the same reforms as the EU's
> previous master plan - a constitution that French and Dutch voters
> rejected in 2005.
>
> Only Ireland's 3 million registered voters pose a serious threat to
> ratification, because the other 26 members require approval through
> their national parliaments.
>
> So far, more than a dozen EU members have ratified it, including the
> parliaments of Estonia, Finland and Greece on Wednesday, but others
> have held back while awaiting the Irish referendum result.
>
> The Irish government, major opposition parties and business leaders
> all campaigned for a yes vote during a month-long campaign that
> emphasised Ireland's strong benefits from 35 years of EU membership.
>
> The prime minister, Brian Cowen, said he had led the campaign for
> Irish ratification "as best as I possibly could", and accused anti-
> treaty voters of spreading lies and distortions.
>
> Pressure groups from the far left and right claimed that the treaty
> would result in Ireland losing control of everything from its business
> tax rates to its ban on abortion. Cowen and most of the political
> establishment branded such claims as nonsense.
>
> Many voters said they did not understand the treaty's implications
> well enough, and were essentially voting on whether they felt happy
> with Ireland's place in Europe.
>
> "Ireland would still be the economic basket case of Europe without the
> EU. We should be doing everything we can to help EU institutions
> function better, because all the evidence shows they function in our
> interest," said a pro-treaty voter, accountant Padraig Walsh.
>
> But others complained that the EU's near-doubling in size since 2004
> had brought unwelcome change to Ireland, particularly more than
> 200,000 jobseekers from Poland and the Baltic states who now snap up a
> majority of available jobs.
>
> "I feel like a foreigner in my own land. There's been too much change,
> too quick," said anti-treaty voter Eugene Leary, a laid-off
> construction worker who has turned to part-time taxi work to make ends
> meet.
>
> "You don't mean to be a bigot or a racist. But you would like to see
> your country keep control of its identity, and make sure your own
> people are being looked after first. That's just not happening."
>
> Many no voters said they were annoyed that the Lisbon treaty contains
> largely the same reform goals as the rejected constitution, and
> expressed solidarity with the voters of France and the Netherlands who
> dumped that document.
>
>
http://www.bpp.org.uk/irishreferendum2.html
>
> No doubt the Eurocrats of Brussels wil now try and change the rules to
> push this Globalist treaty through but three cheers for the people of
> Eire for giving this unholy legislation the elbow!
>
>
www.stormfront.orgwww.vnnforum.comwww.davidduke.comwww.thephora.org
Thanks !