Madam, - AJ Cahill of Salthill, Co Galway writes (December 17th) of the importance of saying "No" once again to the Lisbon Treaty "so democracy can be kept alive long enough for the EU project to be rescued".
And this burden, he says, "the Irish people must accept willingly on behalf of the peoples of Europe". Well, as one of the "peoples" of Europe, I find this statement offensive and arrogant.
Ireland has received much of my tax money via the same undemocratic EU that he wishes to replace and "rescue". Mr Cahill's views are an insult to the many years of work and dedication contributed by mainly French and German politicians to make the EU the success that it is today.
The EU was born during the years of the Cold War, under the watchful and sometimes hostile gaze of the Americans, Russians and British. Many countries such as Ireland and the UK now reap the benefits of that hard work - conveniently not mentioned by the gentleman, or by the press and media in general. And as Lisbon II approaches, there will no doubt be many more ill-informed letters insulting Europeans and what Europe has achieved since 1945.
I have noticed a disturbing tendency among many writers to The Irish Times: they seem to assume that only the Irish have a God-given right to pontificate on democracy. Perhaps this is because, as the gentleman writes, "during the second World War we helped keep democracy alive as it was threatened in Europe". By fighting Hitler's Germany? I think not.
Do the Irish make up their own history? Only the Americans, British and Israelis can beat you at that, they are much better at it. But let's not quibble; Mr Cahill is in pretty good company.
If the people of Ireland do decide once more to say No to the Lisbon Treaty, it won't be Europe that will need rescuing. Libertas is a cultivated plant that can grow only on rarefied Irish soil; and in doing so, poison it. - Yours, etc,
Madam, - In recent days we have been constantly lectured by Sinn Féin that, in relation to the Lisbon Treaty, the people have spoken and the outcome of that one previous referendum must be respected.
It is a pity that those same paragons of democracy could not - or, more accurately, would not - accept the outcome of every single general election and referendum in this Republic since the Anglo-Irish Treaty was endorsed by the Irish people through Dáil Éireann in 1922. Many thousands of lives could have been saved and billions of euro spent on legitimately fighting terrorism could have been spent on providing proper public services.
As someone involved in democratic politics for many years, I have won and lost battles. When I lose the battle for something that I believe is right I get back up and fight for it all over again. If, following the next referendum and subsequent negotiations we get a better result for Ireland, it is worth fighting for again.
Message to Sinn Féin and their extraordinary allies in Cóir and Libertas: that is called democracy. - Yours, etc,
Madam, - Two of the main reasons why the Irish people voted to reject the Lisbon Treaty were concerns over Irish neutrality and worker's rights. Since Mr Michael O'Leary does not support Irish neutrality and has little concern for workers' rights it is no surprise that he supports the treaty.
Article 6 of our Constitution states that all power derives from the people and in final appeal they make the decision on national policy. They rejected the Lisbon Treaty.
Are we now to see the rich and powerful use their wealth and power to subvert the democratic decision of the Irish people in a second referendum? It will not be the first time wealth, power and threats were used to force the Irish people to accept a treaty.- Yours, etc,
Madam, - John Goodwillie (December 16th) is incorrect if he thinks that I think, or ever thought, that the Lisbon Treaty will "not now bring about full equality for same-sex couples or civil partnership". My concern is that with full legal guarantees with regard to the provisions of our Constitution concerning the family, as outlined by Micheál Martin (Opinion, December 15th), attached to Lisbon Treaty referendum Mark 2, Ireland will not make laws regarding civil partnership and will have no will, or stomach, to do so.
Civil partnership will thus remain one of those post-dated political promises that will forever languish in the back drawer, gathering dust. - Yours, etc,