Sir, - I am very interested in reports that the Taoiseach has been having discussions in Barcelona with his EU colleagues about the possibility of appending a statement confirming Irish neutrality to the re-run Nice Referendum.
It is quite clear that he has sniffed the wind and that his cute political nose confirms what I said to the Government in the Senate debate on the Nice Referendum - i.e., that it would not pass until the issue of military neutrality which the Government had sought to evade was honestly addressed.
I pointed out at that time there was a way round this issue. Denmark succeeded in attaching a protocol to the treaty which excluded it from military participation without direct democratic consultation, even though it is actually a member of NATO. Nothing could demonstrate more clearly that it was technically possible to include a similar protocol in the Irish accession mechanism.
One wonders why Mr Ahern chose not to do so. I certainly provided him with the opportunity by putting down a version of the Danish Protocol as an amendment to the Bill when it came before the Seanad.
Regrettably, the Government chose to vote this proposal down. It then faced the consequences when the Irish people in their wisdom rejected the treaty wholesale, though many of us were enthusiastic about the enlargement provisions.
May I take this opportunity to warn Mr Ahern not to make the same mistake again? It seems to me that what he is talking about is a simple cosmetic exercise - a kind of political conjuring trick. A statement of the kind apparently envisaged would probably have no force in law under the Irish Constitution. I doubt very much if the Irish people will be fooled by this. I shall certainly be out again campaigning for a No vote unless the Danish Protocol or something very like it is put into the treaty. - Yours, etc.,
Senator DAVID NORRIS,
Seanad Eireann,
Baile Átha Cliath, 2.