FutureTaoiseach wrote: » I would be of the view that the guarantees should have been attached to the Treaty, and that the year and a half since Lisbon I was more than enough time for that to happen. They didn't need to wait till the last minute to negotiate 'guarantees'. The Treaties are the basic law of the Union. Paul Anthony McDermott claimed on Questions and Answers around the time the guarantees began to appear in the press that they were "meaningless" because if you wanted to sue on the basis of them, the ECJ would ask "what part of the Treaties are you sueing on?". I share that view.I don't want the EU to become some sort of rival to the US if that's what you are getting at. I have misgivings about both America and the EU politically speaking. We don't have to choose between Boston and Berlin. We can be on good terms with both.Well with all the media other than the Murdoch press on your side, the yes side should be running away with this referendum. Maybe it's just that many Irish people get suspicious when they see the powerful people in society closing ranks, as it evokes bad memories in Irish history.
Caught wrote: » Saying yes will just throw away our freedom. We probably would never get it back in this lifetime. So if I could vote, it would be no. They arent gonna make new jobs or atin else they are promising. If the EU really cared about us, would they not already be helping us? People fought for our freedom, dont throw it away... Well then again, Cowen is in charge. :P
Dinner wrote: » Because the concerns discovered by the government have been addressed.
FutureTaoiseach wrote: » Maybe it's just that many Irish people get suspicious when they see the powerful people in society closing ranks, as it evokes bad memories in Irish history.
marco_polo wrote: » Yes, the ECB is currently loaning us billions to stay afloat?
jhegarty wrote: » We are voting on lisbon , not maastricht. We will still be using the Euro if we vote no.
Caught wrote: » If we werent using Euro then we wouldnt be needing to be loaned billions to stay afloat, now would we? We could lower the worth of the currency and our prices to attract people. Do hotels know how ridiculous their prices can be sometimes? And dont forget, Im a 14 year old girl. I sometimes ramble and have no idea what Im talking about. :P I love using smileys as their cute and find lip gloss tasty. :P:P
Keewee6 wrote: » you would agree that democracy is still a good reason - lets say im votin on this reason - you may think its wrong and i should read the treaty and make a yes vote - i just want to vote because i dont like being asked twice - probably is a horrible reason - but sorry thats why im voting no sorry - lets agree to differ:(
Morzadec wrote: » Saw a sign today that said - Minimum Wage after Lisbon - 1.84e. Where the hell do they get these things from?! I will be voting Yes. As far as I can tell this treaty is a continuation and progression rather than a drastic change. The EU has been good to us and we need it now more than ever. Pretty much all the ridiculous scaremongering reasons from last time round have been addressed, and the public seem to be getting more informed this time round, so another referendum is both morally and legally right in my opinion as the public should be given a chance to vote on the treaty based on facts rather than suppositions or nationalist rhetoric or blindly voting No as they aren't informed. For the this reason I'm hoping the Treaty should get passed this time round, despite what the poll here says.
marco polo wrote: There really is no need to put the word guarantee in quotations. And I see you are still quoting from a statement that was made weeks before the legal framework of the guarantees were announced.
ECJ ruling wrote: an international agreement cannot affect the allocation of powers fixed by the Treaties or, consequently, the autonomy of the Community legal system.
Dinner wrote: » Yes yes, we all know you're voting no. You've made it abundantly clear that you don't care and don't want to know anything about the treaty, you're still voting no. There, is that enough attention yet?
FutureTaoiseach wrote: » Some would argue that the ECB monetary policy was a contributory factor to our housing-bubble because interest rates were suited to France and Germany and not to an overheating economy which we were before 2008 with galloping inflation.
Keewee6 wrote: » would u rather i read it and then voted no
Dinner wrote: » Well, yes. At least then you would know what you are rejecting.
FutureTaoiseach wrote: » ... The credibility of the guarantees is a hot issue in this campaign ...
Keewee6 wrote: » ok ill do that -then vote no
fona wrote: » No no absolutely no. And quite annoyed to have to do it twice. When will FF learn that No means NO!
FutureTaoiseach wrote: » The credibility of the guarantees is a hot issue in this campaign...
oscarBravo wrote: » No, it's not. This is exactly analogous to Cóir's approach to the campaign. Cóir have a fundamental problem with the EU, for their own fundamentalist conservative Catholic reasons. They know that their real reasons are a tough sell to a modern electorate, so they set about achieving their goals through blatant dishonesty, talking about things that they almost certainly know are untrue, like the minimum wage, solely with a view to planting seeds of doubt in the hope of damaging the EU through a second No vote. In the same way, it's fundamentally dishonest to talk about the guarantees not having credibility. The major concerns as expressed by the electorate were addressed by the EU member states, so the No campaign in a desperate attempt to create more uncertainty try to claim that the guarantees are not binding. What's the underlying message? That the EU is trying to trick us into ratifying this treaty, at which point they'll pounce, force us to introduce abortion and euthanasia, and conscript what few of us are left into their imperialist army.
FutureTaoiseach wrote: » Scofflaw, where does this process of integration end? Why the constant need to reinvent the wheel every 4/5 years? It makes me suspicious and I think a lot of no voters. We want to know where this is leading.
Really-Stressed wrote: » If my recolection of the (very few:D) politics lectures i attended in UCD is anything to go by , jean Monnet, the architect of the EU openly said the goal of the whole thing is an eventual united states of europe, which looks like where were going