Europe

conchubhar1

good in general, good for Ireland

but whats not good fore ireland is an unreadle - yes politicians havent read all of it - text that will change how ireland works


im not going to tell anyone to vote no - i personally will - but remember this


people voting yes - including democratic politicians - say if you vote no ''Europe will be unhappy''

is that democratic - you have a choice - ''vote no or dont vote and if you vote yes and it doesnt go through we will try until it goes through''

does that sound like something goof for our small country?

(that is not direct qoutation-btw- but it is a paraphrase of what is being said)

towel401

it really is really like we are *supposed to* vote yes to allow the assimilation to continue. the campaign is a bit like the one for the nice treaty - if you vote no Europe and Brian Cowen will be pissed off at us.

conchubhar1

stupid reason to vote yes

nearly as much so as the socialists and sinn fein voting yes so ill vote now stance which i have heard from many ppl

sink

If Ireland votes no, the EU will be damaged further, people will have even less faith in it then they do now.

The EU is empowered by it's citizens if it's citizens do not trust it, it's task of governing is made infinitely more difficult. At the moment it appears that the majority of EU citizens can see the benefits of the EU and support it's aims. If you look at individual countries, countries which have the greatest support from it's citizens seem to have the greatest impact on the EU. They get to shape the EU's future where as countries which lack supoort only get to say no to other countries proposals rather than making any of their own (compare Germany with the UK).

If there is a no vote nothing immediately drastic will happen such as Ireland being kicked out of the EU or the EU itself collapsing, but there will be a more subtle negative effect. Ireland will no longer be in a position of leading Europe making suggestions and shaping policy and instead it will become more like the UK, saying no and protecting self-interests but not really shaping the future.

The EU itself will also be damaged, it's voice on the world stage and it's ability to act in it's own interests will shrink. It will effect foreign relations issues like energy talks with Russia, giving Russia more bargaining power because the EU will be fractured and weaker. Or other issues like human rights in China, keeping tabs on nuclear weapons, negotiating with the US on data protection and visas, having a real effect on climate change and pressuring despotic regimes like Burma and Sudan will be made more difficult. The rejection of the constitution did lessen the EU's hand in negotiating the new members enrolment into the USA visa waiver scheme. To such an extent that the Czech republic tried to go it alone but only hurt it's own negotiating position.

Ireland and the EU can recover but it will take a good few years. It is not only factor you should consider in deciding to vote yes or no. But you should at least consider it.