Funferal

Irish election update

We’re coming to the end of the election campaign here in Ireland – I’ve been out most evenings, canvassing for the Labour Party. Its been a fairly hectic few months, what with the abortion referendum and now this.
Looking to the future, it appears likely that there’ll be a rerun of the Nice Treaty referendum this September or October. Even though I eventually voted for the treaty the first time around (and even put in a small amount of campaigning, dropping leaflets door-to-door) I’m not sure how I’ll go this time around.
I’m ever more convinced of the necessity of the EU, as, I think, are most Irish people, and I even think it should be developed, with a constitution and a stronger parliament. However, the reactions of Prodi and other senior officials, and the manner in which they refused to recognise the legitimacy of the Irish result, underscored their disconnect from democratic politics, and their belief in the irrelevency of public participation. The irony is that the European project will live or die based on whether the public continue to believe in the European vision and grow to feel a European kinship.
I have also been reminded of my immediate dislike for the concept of a 2-track Europe, which I first encountered in UCG in 1995 when the French Ambassador talked of it. Insofar as one track is seen as a ‘fast track’ and the other is a ‘slow lane’, it seems a way to railroad voters into taken decisions which they would not otherwise take. Since some countries will move ahead implementing policy X or Y, it will increase the pressure on other countries to join them, and will be a way for governments of those countries to take decisions contrary to the will of their populations.
But hey, that’s for the future: first step is getting everyone out to vote on Friday.