Sir, - The Amsterdam Treaty is a very obtuse and imprecisely drawn document that cannot be understood without reference to all the preceding treaties and this option is not available to most voters. I cannot understand its implications; nor can many eminent legal and business brains; nor, I suspect, can most of our TDs and senators.
Any parliament which passed domestic legislation as vague as this treaty could expect its interpretation to be challenged through the courts. Unfortunately, as citizens of Ireland we will not have that safeguard.
Recent opinion polls suggest that the majority of potential Irish voters have not even heard of the Amsterdam Treaty let alone understand what they are being asked to vote for.
The working of the Treaty, in my view, allows the European bureaucracy - with few safeguards - to interpret many aspects of the Treaty in a way we or our legislators cannot even comprehend. This is often called a blank cheque and writing one is a sure recipe for disaster. - Yours, etc., Robert Mooney
Lower Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin 2.