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Dick Roche Suggests a Second Referendum on Lisbon
Read more about: Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Government, Labour Party, Lisbon Treaty, Lisbon Treaty
It has been called “unhelpful” and “unwise” however I am not sure what the reasoning for that is. Dick Roche suggested that we may well have a second referendum on Lisbon as a means to keep us at the heart of Europe.
A SECOND referendum on the Lisbon Treaty would “ultimately” be required and ratifying key elements by legislation was not a viable option, Minister of State for European Affairs Dick Roche said at the weekend.
Stressing that this was a personal view “at this stage”, he said: “I cannot see how key elements in the treaty could be given effect simply by legislation – particularly as we have already held a referendum on the whole treaty.”
He is at least being honest. The second referendum is essential to pass all of the Treaty, even as other options like passing it through the Dail are considered they cannot pass the entire Treaty without causing a major shitstorm. If it is not dead, it must be voted on again or sent to the Supreme Court by the President. The other parties-and some in Fianna Fail-hoping all this will go away are mistaken, kill it or keep it but don’t keep heads buried in the sand.
The tenor to the statement from Fine Gael and Labour suggests that the decision on how to proceed with this might fracture the Euro-consensus beyond repair. Something we have noted reguarly on the blog. They have reiterated that a second run is out of the question if the voters are voting on the same proposal. It makes sense, their voters split on the treaty, Labour’s went considerable against and in the twelve months before the local elections it is seats that will dominate the logic.
The two opposition parties will need to tread a fine line, by rejecting Martin’s initial wheeze of a dedicated committee they have kept themselves from being made responsible for any resolution proposal, they have kept their powder dry so to speak.
Lucinda Creighton’s statemen on the Fine Gael position suggests the logic of a few concessions from the EU may do the trick;
However, there are certain issues that must be addressed if we are to move forward under the Lisbon model. These include concerns over social and moral issues, taxation and representation on the European Commission. The challenge for Dick Roche and his counterparts is to put forward useful and constructive solutions to these concerns, rather than threatening to ram another referendum down people’s throats
if that is so then the referendum has to happen before November 2009 in order for them to be effective. That runs it right into the Local Election campaign when a mixed message of all threee parties competing for local votes but united for European votes seems to be a little bit more than they will be willing to stomach. Especially when both opposition and government leaders have so much to prove. Cowen will look to regain lost momentum, Kenny is facing the election for his job and Gilmore must prove he can do better than Quinn and Rabbitte. It does not make for a happy recipe.
It has been called “unhelpful” and “unwise” however I am not sure what the reasoning for that is.
Well I guess its due to some really poor performances that ultimately damaged the govt. and resulted in a sidelining at the last election.
I was in France last weekend and struggled through an article in a french newspaper on saturday that discussed the same thing (lisbon treaty not Dick). The article suggested that assurances on tax, neutrality, commissioners and abortion would seal the deal. I wonder how much will really change other than the legalising of promsise already made.
It would have been better if the government said nothing about Lisbon for now.Let it rest a while.
When it does start up again a lot more pressure should be put on the ‘No’ side. Right now they are getting away with this ‘No means no’ shite. If no to everything should we leave the EU? If no to just some things, then which ones and what change would you like to see? How would you make the happen? Make them stand up their arguements. If another refererdum is to succeed the yes side will have really to go for it.
I hope they do. This is important.
John,
It certainly is important and thats why both campaigns fought hard and fair to covince the electorate of the merits of their arguments. I am not sure what you mean by “No means No shite”. Maybe is not an option in a referndum so No meant No. Its not reasonable to ascribe any other meaning to it. Its clear that people voted No for a wide variety of reasons but it that not true for the Yes side as well. I am sure some voted yes because Brian Cowen told them to and some voted Yes because they didnt want the European Union to collapse in anarchy. Hardly the best reasons.
There is plenty material on what the No side wants. The Sinn Fein proposal is the clearest in its demands -
No side proposals
As regards the yes pushing the no side to stand up their arguments I belive that already happened. To my mind one of the main fusillades the yes side repeatedly fired was Europe will cease to function if this is not passed. The problem is that if a referendum were to take place late next year the EU will have continued to function for one year sans Lisbon treaty. There will be no bureaucratic collapse in the EU. Thats one gun spiked. If the commissioner is retained then thats the performance of what was imagined to be the impossible, a second gun spiked.
The more that the govt. is given room to delay the referendum till late next year and the more concessions that are made to ensure its passage then the weaker the arguments they built their campaign on will become and the more justified the no side will seem. Indeed a second referendum on a modified package would require the yes side to effectively say that the No side had merit. This meets those concerns and on that basis please vote yes.
Re: johnl above. So ‘no’ should mean ‘yes’. He says “It would have been better if the government said nothing about Lisbon for now. Let it rest a while. When it does start up again a lot more pressure should be put on the ‘No’ side.”
Such arrogance I never seen. Who does he think he is - God? He obviously thinks he should rule over the ‘no’ voters.