Madam, - May your cartoonist's scalpel never be blunted! Last Saturday he highlighted the contrary attitude which seems to prevail among many people. From my perspective, the Lisbon Reform Treaty is essentially a simple document (in the broad sense, that is; in the narrow sense it could only be loved by lawyers and bureaucrats). See it as a consolidation Bill, as a necessary reform to adjust to the growth in membership of the EU, and it makes sense. Yes, changes are proposed, but, by and large, the treaty re-states elements which are already established and agreed.
I began my working life in 1957 - I was one of the lucky ones and got a job at home in Cork. I have no doubt that our EEC membership in 1973 created the economy - and much more, including a confident national identity and pride - that enabled me to raise and educate my family and set up and hand on my own business.
Are we now, for the flimsiest of "reasons", for special-interest claims, for long-discredited arguments, to throw all this away? I don't believe that having our own Commissioner all the time (what would the portfolio be - relations with Outer Mongolia?) is remotely a real issue, or that we could negotiate a "better" deal - what do we want to make better? Please, please, let us not sleepwalk down this cul-de-sac. Anyone who cares for this country should have no hesitation in voting on Thursday - and voting Yes. - Yours, etc,
ROBIN O'SULLIVAN, Allendale Avenue, Bishopstown, Cork.
Madam, - Who can say honestly they have read the Lisbon Treaty? Taoiseach Brian Cowen and EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy have both declared openly that they haven't read it all. I haven't read it either, because I speak English and this document is written in a language other than English, and is therefore not intended to be fully understood by anybody, apart from those who have drawn it up. Apparently, its a rehash of a rejected treaty which the French and Dutch have already said No to. They are not being given a second chance to reject it again, and the responsibility falls only to us out of a total of 27 countries. This doesn't sound like democracy in action to me!
In these circumstances fair-minded people will reject it on the basis that nobody buys a pig in a poke. Once it has been rejected, then let the treaty be rewritten in a language literate people can understand. Only very gullible people sign their names to documents which they haven't read.- Yours, etc,
PETER MARTIN, Castle Avenue, Swords, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Robert Emmet said famously that he did not want his epitaph to be written until Ireland "takes her place among the nations of the earth". I would argue that this did not happen in any real sense until we joined the EU in 1972 and grew into a confident, prosperous European nation as a result.
Through the EU and its extraordinarily generous financial support, Ireland was able to throw off the chains of its history of rebellion against and dependence on Britain, just as surely as France and Germany were freed from their long history of continent-destroying warfare. Our backward agriculture escaped from its servitude to the UK's cheap food market; our infrastructure was transformed; the seeds were sown for the miracle of the Celtic Tiger economy; and Ireland, from being one of Europe's poorest countries, was transformed into one of its richest in just three decades. In the North, EU funding helped transform a violently divided backwater into a peaceful and prosperous region.
I would like to appeal to voters to consider this bigger picture when voting on Thursday. In future, things will be a bit more difficult for Ireland in Europe than in the bountiful years at the end of the last century. As a wealthy nation we are properly becoming a net contributor to the EU budget. The Lisbon Treaty, a highly complex legal instrument meant to help bring together 27 disparate states more efficiently, contains some serious flaws - as do many much simpler laws passed by Dáil Éireann. The international economic situation is difficult.
But our future lies with the extraordinary invention that is the European Union: the most consensual, most peaceful, most democratic alliance of nations the world has even seen, an oasis of political and financial stability in an increasingly uncertain international climate. That world needs to hear the EU's voice of sanity and dialogue in vital areas such as climate change, food security and the Middle East. And Ireland, little Ireland, will continue to have an important voice in this powerful council of nations.
The alternative is that we turn away from Europe by voting No. And we should not delude ourselves by thinking this will have no consequences. Most Europeans (and their governments), knowing full well how much we have benefited from EU membership and support, will react very negatively if the EU is thrown into renewed crisis by the Irish electorate. If we vote No, the governments and people of Europe will undoubtedly find some mechanism for going their own way without us. France and Germany may form a core group of countries that will marginalise not only Ireland but many of the smaller Eastern European nations who admire and follow our example.
Have we freed our young people from a narrow, inward-looking, poverty-stricken past only to vote to have them left out again as Europe faces the future? That would be a tragedy. - Yours, etc,
ANDY POLLAK, Palmerston Court, Rathmines, Dublin 6.
Madam, - Who on earth decided that a referendum was needed to ratify the Lisbon Treaty? If any decision was unsuited to popular vote, this is it.
Instead of a simple proposal, such as to do away with Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution, or to legalise divorce, we have a document of 294 pages of legal detail, mostly consisting of amendments that are anything but readable.
Those who piously berate proponents of the treaty for not reading it from cover to cover remind me of the hypocrites in the gospel who rent their garments in holy indignation. If you claim to have read it, you would also claim to have had to read the treaty that it is amending.
It is very hard for Brian Cowen and Dermot Ahern to splash some catchy slogan on a poster to get us to vote Yes, as the whole business is only an amending treaty to finish off years of wrangling aimed at achieving a consensus on how Europe is run. It is in other words, essentially dull but necessary.
Not so for the No campaign. After all the hard work, we now have an assortment of, mostly, extreme right-wing and religious groups that possess an amazing hostility to the EU. They can lob in any shock statement or innuendo and put it on a colourful poster to frighten as many people as possible.
Many churches have poisonous literature dumped in their porches by certain groups in order to turn people against the EU. Sinn Féin, paradoxically, has singled out any article with the word "military" in it.
Those who announce brazenly that they will vote No because they do not understand the treaty should at least have the decency to abstain. - Yours, etc,
DONAL McCARTHY, Monastery Crescent, Clondalkin, Dublin 22.
On Thursday, polling day, there will be a moratorium on letters debating the Lisbon Treaty.
Madam, - I have no time for most of the campaigners calling for a No vote. But I have gone from Yes to Don't Know and finally No. The Yes campaign is not convincing - in fact it is a disaster. It is tragic to hear some of the "flat-earthers" running rings around Kenny, Harney, Cowen, etc. The main parties really sound as if they are selling something they don't fully understand.
At this the Yes campaign sounds even more alarmist than the No. Take your own Editorial last Saturday "Are we out of our minds?", which dragged in the peace process. Give us a break, I thought that was the prerogative of Sinn Féin.
I am not convinced on the issue of agency workers, which will operate against Irish workers and small to medium companies in Ireland. And as a former trade union official I hear very clearly the concerns of Jack O'Connor of Siptu and the refusal of the Government to recognise trade union rights.
I will not be able to vote for the European president: he or she will be selected in some dodgy political deal. And although it has nothing to do with the Lisbon Treaty, I am fed up listening to politicians quoting the "triple lock": it is a cynical cop-out from a real commitment to defend the Europe we want to be at the heart of.
The roof won't fall in and the European project will continue and Ireland will continue to play a role. Europe is good for Ireland but this treaty is unclear and not a job well done.
Also, in the light of some bishops calling for a Yes vote, can I assure people, as a religious cleric myself, that it is not a sin to vote No. Don't be bullied. I will be driving down from Belfast to vote No. - Yours, etc,
Rev CHRIS HUDSON, Myrtlefield Manor, Belfast.
Madam, - I have concluded from long experience that by questioning 25 people you have a good chance of discovering the mind of the electorate. So I decided to do my own opinion poll, by asking the voting intentions of 20 people in a pub in rural Sligo.
I also asked nine others, at home or in their workplaces, making a total of 29. They have various occupations - accountant, supermarket-owner, newsagent, grocer, farmer, Bord Fáilte official, two retired teachers, butcher, etc.
The result was: No, 13; Leaning No, 3; Yes, 6; Leaning Yes, 1; Undecided, 4; Not Voting, 2.
Of eight women, six were voting No, or inclined to do so.
One fact that emerged clearly is that the No people are much more definite in their opinions than the Yes people. Some of them have what I call non-arguments, which they express with great force. One person said we would be "giving up everything we have, our whole Constitution", by voting Yes. Another said that if a couple were killed, their children could be adopted by a lesbian or gay couple. Presumably against the wishes of their guardians? How stupid can one get? Has anybody heard such off-the-wall stuff since Oscar Wilde said the wallpaper was killing him?
Conclusions: 1. Clearly the jingoism of the No campaigners, repeated over and over for such a long time, has caught on with many people.
2. The Government, by contrast, has produced the kind of non-campaign that gave us the first Nice referendum debacle. It will be lucky to escape a similar result this time. It would be almost beyond belief if this happened, considering the benefits this country has gained from Europe in 35 years. But obviously, for some people, eaten bread is soon forgotten.
Finally, the No campaigners remind me of what the late James Dillon, TD, once described as "a conglomeration of the brains of all the cranks in creation". Some, like Joe Higgins, are sincere, but most of them have been against Europe - and against everything - since they first came on the scene.
Would we be happy to allow them prevail in this, because of our apathy and mental laziness? If not, we should get out next Thursday and vote Yes. It is in our own hands. - Yours, etc,
SEOSAMH Ó LUANA, Faughts, Clogherevagh, Co Sligo.
Madam, - I would like to congratulate you on your Editorial of June 7th, headed: "Are we out of our minds?"
Your righteous condemnation of the views of much of the electorate brought back fond memories of your previous noble efforts in 2007, best summarised as: "How dare you vote for Fianna Fail?"
On this occasion, your condescending and patronising comments have removed any lingering doubts I had about voting No on June 12th. Thank you, Madam. - Yours, etc,
Dr RUAIRI HANLEY, Francis Street, Drogheda, Co Louth.
Madam, - There are simple words for neither "yes" nor for "no" in the Irish language. Common usage substitutes approximations which translate as "there is/isn't or "it is/isn't". Unfortunately, the referendum voting paper will not carry boxes for "b'fhéidir" or "ní thuigim", which translate cleanly, and could be ticked with confidence.
Those who are undecided or who do not understand the Lisbon Treaty are more likely to vote No while those who understand it will, in the majority vote, Yes. If the No vote wins it will be a triumph of ignorance over knowledge.
Provision of a "ní thuigim" box would provide a refuge for those who will otherwise endanger the fairness and democracy of the referendum result. - Yours, etc,
KENNETH JONES, Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow.