Irish say no to creating more robust, cohesive E.U.

[LaStrega]

Irish say no to creating more robust, cohesive E.U.

By EAMON QUINN and GRAHAM BOWLEY New York Times

DUBLIN, IRELAND - In a significant setback for efforts to overhaul Europe's unwieldy institutions, Irish voters on Friday rejected a European Union treaty to change the way the bloc of nearly 500 million people governs itself and presents itself to the world.

The defeat, by a margin of 53.4 percent to 46.6 percent, throws the 27-member bloc into turmoil, its latest attempt to change stymied by less than 1 percent of its population.

Ireland is the only country in the European Union to put the pact to a referendum. The other member states are voting on it through their parliaments, and 18 have backed it so far. But European Union rules require unanimous support for the treaty to come into effect.

Full Article

[gateley]

1. Good for them!

The others have been assimilated -- don't give in, Ireland!

[Drunken Irishman]

2. Good! :)

[silverojo]

3. Trust the Irish to fight back--way to go!

Erin go bragh! Makes me proud to be Irish-American. :)

[LaStrega]

5. Fighting Irish. w00t! Makes me proud, too.

(Though I'm only half Irish, the other half is Scot ... and of that too am I proud.)

[Joe Chi Minh]

4. Aces! It's a thoroughly corrupt institution, promoting globlisation by inducting

countries with much less developed economies (even by British standards now), thereby keeping wages low.

Auditors routinely discover enormous embezzlement, but they are ignored. In fact, I believe, sacked. As paragons of maladminisitration, they also enact and promulgate an enormous number of insanely footling and nonsensical PC regulations.

This rejection by the Irish also highlights its viciously autocratic nature, and assuming the EEC survives, should bring pressure to bear on its member governments to hold referenda, and generally introduce more democracy.

What makes the response of the Irish all the more meritorious is that it has apparently been one of its main, net economic bneficiaries.

[excess_3]

6. welcome news .n/t

[tama]

7. Duh

The only way to get an EU constitution or a "treaty" of same effect is a single EU-wide referendum, with a sane text instead of these rejected ones of neoliberal tyranny. Will they ever learn?