Blogging from the Bog

   Information on the upcoming referendum here in Ireland for the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty issue is scarce, even the date when voters are expected to cast their informed decision has not been declared.  From a broad perspective it appears that the major political parties are all in favour of a "Yes" vote to the proposal; but, then again, why wouldn’t they?  Politicians want more government like children want more ice cream.  The Green Party is 63% for the Treaty, Sinn Fein and the Socialists are against it.

   It would seem that what we need is less government intervention from Dublin and Brussels, not more.  John Gormley, Minister for Rural Affairs and Local government has called for reforms to enhance the responsibilities of local authorities, and yet he favours the upcoming Treaty referendum.   Mariann Fisher-Boels, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, also supports local reform from an agrarian/economic standpoint as 60% of the population of the 27 Member States live in rural areas.  If no reform is forthcoming from these two, then what guarantees are there from Brussels that creating more political entities will be any more responsive to the needs of us EuroCitizens?

   Over the weekend we heard of the Irish governments big hurry to implement the EU directive regarding personal electronic data collection  without legislative due process, yet they are delinquent in following dozens of other EU orders that could cost us billions!  If this is the way our government interacts with the EU government, or in fact fails to do the business, why on earth should we give them any more to do?   See the People’s Movement site for current activities.

   Margot Wallstrom is the EU’s Vice-President of Communications and has the responsibility of keeping European citizens informed of the machinations of government in Brussels and keeping the public "at the heart of European policies."  It is on her blog that you may find some enlightenment and debate on the pro’s and con’s of the Treaty.  I suggest she get on to Bertie and "communicate" the need for the wide-spread dispersal of relevant information to the Irish voters.  Libertas.org President Declan Ganley, who hired ex-Minister of Justice Michael McDowell as legal advisor for the project, has stated on their site that his organisation will be sending out an information booklet to every Irish household because the government is "afraid" to tackle the issues.

   ***Update:  You can vote, YES or NO at the Free Europe website!***

More information:  EU Referendum Blog   Ralf Grahn’s Blog