If the President of the European Commission, Mr Romano Prodi, is serious about wanting to listen to the reasons the Irish electorate voted No in the Nice referendum, it behoves us to be clear and helpful.
He is correct, I would say, in his belief that Irish objections to the EU extend far beyond the contents of the Nice Treaty. In a spirit of helpfulness, I would like to offer Mr Prodi a by-no-means-exhaustive dozen reasons why the Irish people may have said No to Nice.
1. Because of the arrogance and cynicism of those driving the European project, otherwise known as Eurobullies. It would be helpful - perhaps to himself as much as to the Irish electorate - if Mr Prodi desisted from making statements which suggest he has nothing but contempt for the Irish electorate, such as his insistence last week, since "clarified", that the EU enlargement programme can go ahead regardless of the Irish vote against Nice.
If this is so, why were we told, in the immediate aftermath of the referendum, that we had put paid to the chances of more countries joining the EU? Why, specifically, did the EU Commissioner with responsibility for enlargement, Mr Gunter Verheugan, say enlargement would be impossible unless Ireland found a way to ratify the Nice Treaty? Maybe I am missing something, but it appears that Mr Prodi or Mr Verheugan has either not read or failed to understand the provisions of the Nice Treaty in relation to enlargement. Alternatively, the treaty is so confusing that nobody, not even its chief sponsors, can say for certain what it means.
2. Because we are tired of everyone thinking we can be bribed and bullied and taken for granted.
3. Because there was no money on offer this time. In the past, Irish governments convinced the electorate to vote Yes by the simple expedient of repeating the amount of money to be drawn down in the coming five years. In effect, each administration approached the voters saying it would be impossible to run the Irish economy without largesse from the EU. The electorate, not wishing to be awkward, took pity on its political leaders and voted a reluctant Yes.
4. Because Ireland has never been what Mr Prodi calls a pro-European country. To the extent that there was ever here what could be described as a positive Yes vote, this was largely the product of anti-nationalist sentiment, which has abated following the success of the Northern peace process.
5. Because the EU is not Europe (and now never will be).
6. Because of the absence of democracy. Those of us who have opposed Ireland's relentless absorption into the EU have argued from the outset that it was a less than democratic institution. Nothing we said was remotely as convincing on this score as the responses of EU luminaries to the Irish No to Nice.
7. Because nothing about the EU, and nobody promoting it, is capable of inspiring in a human heart even a fraction of the passion invoked by a scoreless draw in a mid-table League of Ireland match on a wet Sunday in February. This absence is deeply suspicious as well as profoundly boring.
The Czech President, Vaclav Havel, who has expressed concern at Ireland's vote against Nice, may himself have contributed something to our scepticism. Speaking about the Treaty of Maastricht some years ago, he referred to the absence of a spiritual or moral or emotional dimension to the EU. He now seems surprised that we have taken his concerns to heart.
8. Because the Irish electorate is now starting to see through the propaganda which has been gushing out of every mainstream media outlet in Ireland for 30 years, seeking to browbeat or bore the Irish public into acquiescence and ridicule anyone who seeks to dissent.
9. Because many of those who along the way have advocated voting No in referendums concerning the expansion or modification of the EU have come across - despite poisonous propaganda and extreme media hostility - as infinitely more honest, straightforward and well motivated than their counterparts on the Yes side. None of them has gained a penny piece as a result of involvement in the No campaign, whereas there is a strong suspicion that many on the Yes platform have been there for reasons of personal gain.
10. Because what used to be the plain old Common Market sounds more and more like market communism.
11. Because the European project is the creation of one generation of extremely grey and tedious politicians and bureaucrats throughout Western Europe, who felt stymied because they couldn't simply invade and colonise their neighbours as in the good old days and decided to do it by means of a process so boring people began to feel nostalgic for the times when they were subjected to famine and pestilence by those we are now obliged to call our European partners.
Although the Irish electorate was no more certain than members of the European Commission of what the Treaty of Nice actually contained, there was a widespread suspicion that it represented yet another escalation in the relentless usurpation of Irish democracy.
12. Because the last European leader to successfully promote a crypto-country along the lines advocated by Mr Prodi and his colleagues was a man called Mr Tito, and we have been observing what happened with that particular "ideal".
jwaters@irish-times.ie