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Divorcing the Grand Alliance over Europe
Read more about: Fianna Fail, Irish Politics, Labour Party, Lisbon Treaty
It has been noted in a few places over the weekend that the grand alliance on Europe, the three main parties plus the Greens and PDs, was beginning to take some strain. Yesterday’s poll released by Open Europe seems to provide further evidence of that strain. Labour appear to be distancing themselves from any “Tallaght Strategy” position of backing government in the name of passing Lisbon.
The Poll shows that almost 2/3 of voters would reject the Lisbon Treaty at a second running, dismissed as foreign interference by the Yes camp (hmmmm). Yet Joe Costello appeared to take the time to put futher clear daylight between Fianna Fail and the party.
With an increasing percentage of voters now opposed to the Lisbon Treaty, the proposal for a second referendum should not even be on the agenda.
The EU must accept that the Irish rejection of Lisbon cannot be solved simply by a second vote by the Irish.
There must be a period of reflection, where all 27 countries participate collectively in seeking to determine a way forward
I read someone else note this hardening position at the weekend, dismissing it with the idea that since it is Labour it doesn’t matter. That logic is deeply flawed for if there was a fracturing of the alliance and one party capitalised on the popular disillusion with the direction of the EU project, then it presents a grave challenge to the role of the EU in Irish life.
One could argue the rejection of Lisbon represents a rejection of the neutering of the EU as a topic of political debate. The neutering represented by all major parties refusing to differ over its direction, offering different visions of what the EU means and could mean. A break with this politicises the EU in a way far beyond the small interest groups who spring up around referenda could ever hope. If such a move were successful in a succession of polls, there is no doubt that others might follow.
I hope you are right. With 80% of our legislation being handed down from Brussels, it seems absurd that there has been little or no debate on it till now. The Brussels accounts have also not been signed-off on for 13 years by the EU Court of Auditors, and the fact that officials like Martha Andreassen and Paul von Buitenen were sacked for blowing the whistle on the problems with the Brussels accounts underlines what happens when too much power is concentrated in the hands of the unelected bureaucrats in the Commission. If a FF govt were responsible for such shenanigans, FG and Labour would certainly have something to say on it, yet they have hardly a word to speak on it in Brussels. Hopefully this signifies the beginning of a long-overdue debate in which dissent and questioning of Brussels and European integration will become more mainstreamed in the party-system.