Madam, - I voted Yes to Lisbon, and I'm fed up being patronised by the No side.
It's true that France and the Netherlands voted No to the European Constitution. But why is it that the Yes votes in Spain and Luxembourg are ignored? Are Yes voters somehow morally inferior? Yes voters are people too.
I'm tired of being told that the Irish people are being bullied. Being made aware of the consequences of one's decision is no more bullying than is telling someone who smokes that they may get cancer. Do the No lobby go around shouting at "Speed Costs Lives" signs to stop bullying them?
I'm tired of pandering to the neutrality lobby. Under the ridiculous triple-lock law which we brought in for them, we have effectively taken control of our own armed forces away from the Irish people and handed it to the Russians, Chinese and others through the UN Security Council. We have also shamefully told our friends in Europe that at the first sign of trouble we will run, and they needn't dream of thinking that we will stand by them. Short of promising to attack our EU friends, I don't know what more we can do to placate these people.
I'm tired of having Cóir/Youth Defence declare that they speak for ordinary decent Irish Catholics. I'm a Catholic; I try to live a decent life; and that bunch with their weird values sure as hell don't speak for me.
I'm tired of seeing right-wing Tory and UKIP politicians - who have, for example, pledged to abolish the EU social charter that ensures decent workers' rights - toasting us. I'm appalled to see that Sinn Féin has finally brought us back into place as John Bull's obedient little friend.
Finally, I'm mortified that we voted No to an EU that has been generous to us and understanding of our values. I don't believe we have to bow and scrape towards everything from Brussels, but I'm not ashamed to admit that I do believe in loyalty towards one's friends. Especially as they've always been loyal to us. - Yours, etc,
JASON O'MAHONY,
Coppinger Glade,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.
****
Madam, - Following the Lisbon treaty referendum a number of politicians have admitted that one of the contributing factors to the resounding No vote was our high level of immigration.
Perhaps some No voters recalled the debate on the second Nice treaty referendum during which we were assured that levels of immigration from Eastern Europe would be on the low side. For example, writing in your Letters' column of August 20th, 2002, Proinsias De Rossa MEP declared: " I estimate that fewer than 2,000 will choose our distant shores each year". The actual number was closer to 2,000 a week. Such an influx simply cannot take place without some adverse impact on certain indigenous socio-economic groups. These people are now making their views known through the ballot box. They are also looking further down that road towards the prospect of seemingly endless EU expansion, while on the horizon looms the accession of Turkey, a country that has much the same population as all 10 states in the 2004 enlargement, and a country that has similar potential for large-scale immigration of people who would bring with them a culture that is hardly compatible with our own.
At this stage it would seem that nothing can halt the current Turkish EU membership talks, and certainly not the democratically expressed wishes of a large majority of the people of Europe as affirmed in a succession of Eurobarometer polls. In that regard the disconnect between the people of Ireland and their elected representatives is reflected in the fact that although a large majority of Irish people do not wish to see Turkish accession, not a single member of the Oireachtas has voiced the slightest opposition.
An honest debate on immigration is long overdue, but of course such a debate simply cannot and will not take place here. The State-funded "watchdogs" of our immigration industry would never allow it. - Yours, etc,
CONOR O'BRIEN,
Mount Anville Park,
Dublin 14.
****
Madam, - A question to Roger Cole (June 18th). Does he believe that we in Europe should ever again permit an atrocity such as that perpetrated at Sbrenice, where 8,500 fathers and their sons were separated from the rest of their families and slaughtered? This happened despite the presence of UN Dutch troops, who had no mandate to prevent the worst atrocity in Europe since the Holocaust.
What is admirable about the objectives of an organisation such as the Peace and Neutrality Alliance, which opposes the European Union having the capacity to prevent another Sbrenice?
Mr Cole's suggestion that the main advocates of a Yes vote were supporters of President Bush and his wars is simply ludicrous. It is Mr Cole and his colleagues who are determined that the European Union should continue to be dependent on Nato and US intervention if there is a need for humanitarian military intervention in Europe in the future. - Yours, etc,
DECLAN MacPARTLIN,
Camolin,
Enniscorthy,
Co Wexford.
****
Madam, - In many respects our relationship with the EU could be likened to a long marriage, full of highs and lows, with success requiring hard work, understanding and compromise. What a pity that the majority of those who voted fell at the compromise hurdle by declaring No. This lack of faith in a 35-year union that has brought us status and wealth could be deemed fickle by any standards.
Considerable responsibility now rests on our representatives to exercise the skills required to find a way forward so that this partnership can continue to grow. - Yours, etc,
CLAIRE McGOLDRICK,
Proby Gardens,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
****
Madam, - I voted No in the referendum mainly because of the moral issues involved - abortion, euthanasia, same-sex "marriage". I believe we should be in control of these vital moral decisions ourselves. Who knows what the European Court would foist on us by its creative interpretations relating to equality, provisions of services, etc?
The majority of Irish people want to leave a better world to our children and grandchildren and especially to leave a Christian legacy. If God is left out of the equation (and the EU does this) how can our country be blessed? I must also admit to a fear that further militarisation of the EU could see my four-month-old grandson face conscription in the fullness of time.
I know these matters are not specifically set out in the treaty but for me they can certainly be implied as more and more control is given to a godless Brussels. - Yours, etc,
(Mrs) CATHERINE SCOTT,
Sweetbriar Lawn,
Tramore,
Co Waterford.
****
Madam, - We hear repeatedly how the politicians who demanded a Yes vote "respect the decision of the Irish people", yet the direct opposite is the case. We have been harangued and insulted unremittingly since they lost.
Brian Cowen, Micheál Martin, Enda Kenny and (particularly) Gay Mitchell are so angry that they have lost all restraint. They have deliberately played on the opportunism of the extreme right in other EU countries, who are using the Irish No vote for their own purposes, to castigate us and try to belittle the intelligence of those who voted No.
They know well that no extreme right-wing party exists in Ireland, nor any group that has any dealings with such politicians. They continue to say they don't know the reasons for the No vote.
Yet they do know that two of the largest trade unions in the country called for a No vote and that the largest union would not recommend a Yes vote because the Government would not bring forward legislation guaranteeing workers legal rights to be recognised by employers in talks with unions.
They are also well aware that there is considerable opposition to the privatisation of public services, especially health. Militarisation and the erosion of sovereignty and independence in foreign policy were also big issues.
This dishonesty in focusing on right-wing and minority issues should not fool anyone when in fact these politicians are closer to right-wing politics than the vast majority of opponents of the Lisbon Treaty.
Almost all of the 27 EU member-states have conservative governments that are pushing free-market policies in goods and services and the privatisation of public services.
Isn't it time that the crushingly restrictive EU trade agreements and ruthless economic policies inflicted on poor countries outside the magic zone were discussed, to see where this great model of democracy is going?
Like millions of other Europeans, the people, and not the politicians, instinctively know the truth. - Yours, etc,
DEIRDRE UÍ BHRÓGÁIN,
Riverwood Gardens,
Dublin 15.
****
Madam, - Looking at the picture on your June 19th front page of Kathy Sinnott MEP surrounded by members of the UK Independence Party wearing green sweatshirts, may I suggest that Mary Lou, Gerry and Martin put their feet up with a good cup of tea, confident that their day has finally come. And gone. - Yours, etc,
KEVIN BARRINGTON,
St Kevin's Terrace,
Dublin 8.
****
Madam, - Robert Ballagh (June 20th) likens the Taoiseach's present predicament vis-à-vis his EU colleagues to Norwegian traitor Quisling's dealings with the occupying Nazi regime during the second World War. This is really scraping the bottom of the barrel.- Yours, etc,
JOE BERGIN,
Ballinasloe,
Co Galway.