PETRA SCHURENHOFER,
Sir, - I understand that truth is the first casualty of war but I had hoped we might maintain a faint grip on reality during the referendum campaign. Apparently this is not so.
The contribution from Colm Roddy (Opinion, October 2nd) is a case in point. Not only does he misrepresent what is in the treaty; he goes further and, as regards EU foreign and security policy, he discusses and condemns provisions that simply don't exist.
The Nice Treaty provides a formal legal base for the Political and Security Committee - a committee which has been in operation for nearly two years now. It is composed of representatives of each national government - all of whom have a veto and all of whom are directly responsible to their governments and respective national parliaments for all decisions made within the EU's foreign and security policy.
Second, the treaty eliminates references to the Western European Union. The peacekeeping tasks originally assigned to that organisation under previous treaties were transferred under the Amsterdam Treaty to the EU. There is no co-operation with NATO established by the Nice Treaty.
Finally, Mr Roddy insists that the Nice Treaty "incorporates the European Rapid Reaction Force". Again untrue. There is no mention, no provision, no link and no reference to the ERRF anywhere in the Nice Treaty.
There are many sane and sound arguments to be made about the wisdom or otherwise of the Union's development of a capacity for peacekeeping and peacemaking, but the Nice Treaty adds nothing of substance to that capacity.
The Nice Treaty is about enlargement: do we say Yes or No? - Yours, etc.,
Dr BEN TONRA, Deputy Director, Dublin European Institute, UCD, Dublin 4.
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Sir, - John Bergin (Opinion, October 4th) asks if the Irish Green Party is suffering from a democratic deficit because it is campaigning for a No vote in the Nice referendum. His question deserves an answer.
Firstly, he maintains that the Irish Greens are ignoring substantial sections of their support base. Of course there are Green Party supporters who are in favour of Nice. Equally, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party are campaigning for a Yes vote, despite the fact that huge sections (if not the majority) of their supporters are opposed to Nice.
Fortunately, one does not have to vote along party lines in a referendum. So where is the problem?
Secondly, Mr Bergin stresses that the majority of green parties in Europe (meaning their leaderships) support Nice. This does not mean, however, that the majority of Green voters in Europe are in favour of Nice. I am a German national who just helped to vote a red/green coalition back into power in Germany - not because of Joschka Fischer's support for Nice, but because of Gerhard Schröder's opposition to war on Iraq. The citizens of Germany were never consulted in a referendum; the decision to ratify the Nice Treaty was taken over their heads.
Thirdly, Mr Bergin states that the Green Party has allied itself with right-wing groups which play the anti-immigrant card. This is disingenuous. Both the Green Party and Sinn Féin have made it abundantly clear that they are in favour of enlargement and multiculturalism and that they are opposed to Nice for totally different reasons.
Had I been given the right to vote on Nice, I would have voted No. While I am for enlargement and (obviously!) in favour of the right to live and work in other EU countries, I am against the EU's increasing militarisation and bureaucracy. The only democratically elected EU institution, the Parliament, is powerless. Decisions that effect millions of Europeans are made by unelected bureaucrats.
The EU is in urgent need of democratisation and I don't see the Nice Treaty delivering that. - yours, etc.,
PETRA SCHURENHOFER, Terenure, Dublin 6w.
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Sir, - After a rather troublesome few hours spent deciphering the various pamphlets for and against Nice, it was Sinn Féin that finally swung the argument for me.
"Do you trust the Government?" No, I said to myself, as my moment of clarity arrived. After 20 years of being betrayed by the ruling classes here, I am more than willing to give our European friends a chance to run the country.
As for Sinn Féin, thanks for the pointer, sorry about the conclusion. - Yours, etc.,
JAMES COLLINS, Glasnevin Downs, Dublin 11.
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Sir, - What a wonderful photograph on the front of your edition of October 2nd, showing Dr Garret FitzGerald canvassing for a Yes vote in the Nice referendum.
Until now, I have been a "don't know", for a number of reasons, some of them valid and some possibly not. I did not intend to make a decision until polling day.
However, if Dr FitzGerald, with his extensive knowledge of European affairs and his personal decency and integrity, is prepared to go out on the streets of Dublin to campaign for what he believes is right, that's good enough for me.
I will now vote Yes. - Yours, etc.,
EDITH WYNNE, Terenure Road West, Dublin 6W.
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Sir, - I am writing to express my deep disgust at the implication in Martyn Turner's cartoon last Friday that anti-Nice campaigners, apart from the Green Party, are either thugs, fascists, racists or terrorists. As far as I'm concerned, having a conscientious objection to the further diminution of Irish sovereignty does not make me a fascist, racist, thug or terrorist.
I think Martyn Turner owes myself and other anti-Nice campaigners an apology. - Yours, etc.,
D.J. MOORE, Green Road, Carlow.
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Sir, - Can anyone explain why National schools which serve as polling stations have to close on Friday, October 18th, when the Nice Treaty referendum is being held on a Saturday? We never had two days' closure before! - Yours, etc.,
CLARE O'CONNOR, Edwin Court, Glenageary, Co Dublin.