Sir, - The Irish public has sent a clear message to over 100 million people in 12 countries that they are not welcome. Viewed from nations for whom enlargement represents a unique opportunity to finally surpass a long, often intolerable history, the image is of a small insecure state, drunk on its own heady success - the door is locked and the sign reads "Romanians need not apply." This is undeniably true if the vote was against a loss of sovereignty (i.e. being one of 27 instead of 15), or to protest at a switch of EU funding from the wealthy (i.e. us) to the poorer Eastern countries.
But it appears the Irish were possibly voting about something else entirely: the preservation of neutrality. If this is the case, Bertie Ahern fully deserves the embarrassment he now faces before the world. Neutrality has been fudged for too long and now crops up, like repressed desire, in the most awkward places. Nice does not alter or remove the clause intended to safeguard Irish neutrality in previous treaties: nothing essential has changed. However, like Maastricht and Amsterdam, Nice does continue the integration of European defence policy. The Government's insistence on "peacekeeping" is disingenuous: Europe is building an army, and Ireland should not be involved if it does not want to be. If the existing clause is not sufficient it can be supplemented, as Denmark (a NATO member and Nice ratifier) has done, with a protocol explicitly clarifying non-participation. This is the Government's job. If that is done, Ireland has a clear idea where it stands on neutrality.
It appears not to. Ireland is located in a highly sheltered nook of the globe, to all intents and purposes aligned with, and protected by, its neighbours and friends. Irish neutrality persists in a political vacuum, and lacks credibility when viewed from outside, particularly from the current accession countries, located in regions prone to serious volatility. If Ireland is to sustain this (laudable) policy, it should examine how it is to do so credibly. No government has attempted to tackle the issue, and worse, none to date has achieved public confidence about the larger security policy of the EU and the wider aims of the Union generally.
A little-noticed Nice amendment, introduced in the wake of the EU's shameful inability to respond to Jorg Haider's success in Austria, allows the Union to sanction member-states which do not respect the core EU values of "liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms". The current accession process consolidates these values, placing a spotlight on the respect for minorities. With principles such as these finally reaching the heart of Europe, it is disheartening that Ireland, a long-term member and beneficiary, appears unable to present its own central principles in a more coherent fashion.
The Nice vote demonstrates that Ireland needs sustained public debate about Europe and neutrality. Responsibility lies with the Irish Government, whose inability to secure public support for an essential public interest is risible. Irish neutrality within the EU, if that is national policy, can only be negotiated on the basis of a mature consensus at home, which as yet does not exist. And in future, if the Irish public is fed up with the Government's constant bluffing on this and other issues, surely it can do better than taking it out on our co-Europeans further east. - Yours, etc.,
Stephen Humphreys, Budapest.
Sir, - So only 34.79 per cent of the voting population actually bothered to register their opinion on the day of the vote. A massive 65.21 per cent of the population had no voice in this matter. How can we classify this as the "democratic voice of the people of Ireland"?
In Australia, everyone who is eligible to vote is obliged to vote, otherwise they will incur a fine. Thus the true and balanced opinion of the people is reflected each time an election or referendum is held. Why can't Ireland adopt the same policy? I think we would have seen some different results in many elections and referendums of the past - and that would have reflected the true feelings of the populous. Is this not the cornerstone of the principle of democracy? - Yours, etc.,
Kevin Donegan, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.
Sir, - What exactly is the purpose of a referendum? To determine if we should have another? - Yours, etc.,
John D. Horgan, Rushbrooke Terrace, Cobh, Co Cork.
Sir, - As someone who did not vote last Thursday, I find it incredible to think I might still get a chance to vote for the Nice Treaty. What is the point in having a referendum if, after the votes are counted and the result does not suit, we have to go through the whole saga again. - Yours, etc.,
Joe Harvey, Glenageary Woods, Glenageary, Co Dublin.
Sir, - I am not surprised that the electorate voted No on the Nice Treaty but I am a little bemused by reports that people, all over Europe should be.
If I may presume to advise the Minister for Foreign Affairs when he meets his counterparts in Europe: he must ensure that we have one commissioner as our permanent representative in Brussels.
I appreciate that this cannot be acceded to overnight but if he succeeds on this then I have no doubt that the next referendum will produce a different result. - Yours, etc.,
Raymond Shiel, Huskisson Street, Liverpool.
Sir, - As a "damage limitation" exercise, Bertie Ahern and the EU leadership have been telling us that the Irish No vote will not delay the entry of Eastern European nations to the EU. Finally, they have accepted what the No campaign has been telling them for months.
Proinsias De Rossa, a supporter of the Yes campaign, said the No vote was based not on national self-interest, but on concern about the European Rapid Reaction Force and the lack of democratic accountability within EU structures. I agree. It is these concerns that EU leaders will have to address if they are to win my vote in any future vote on a revised treaty. They will not win it by altering the voting strength of the Irish Government, by offering the Irish Government a permanent representative on the EU Commission, or by bribing me with extra funds. They certainly will not win it by blocking the entry of five new nations to the EU.
I will only vote for further European integration if its government is made accountable to its citizens not to national governments, and if I am sufficiently assured that I am not becoming a citizen of a superstate with superpower military capability. - Yours, etc.,
Nicholas McMurry, Sunday's Well Road, Cork.