Rarely has one seen as unified an attempt by a country´s politicians joined with shameless interference by powerful foreigners as in this case: Angela Merkel desperately trying to talk you over, using her feminine persuasion, and then Kouchner robustly threatening to make the Irish the “victims” of EC reprisals, or what, in case of a No result!

It will be a witness of a sad state of the once proud Eire if such attempts at manipulating you will be met in this election with a humiliated surrender.

they can go back and negotiate a better deal and address the concerns relating to collective bargaining, the loss of a commissioner, neutrality, a common defence policy, etc etc etc..

Let’s see that with the gloss:

they can go back and negotiate a better deal and address the concerns relating to collective bargaining(absurd, the treaty is pro-collective bargaining, it’s our government that hasn’t commited to it), the loss of a commissioner (the win in negotiatiosn there where minuscule states like Malta have equal right to a commissioner as Germany was an extraordinary success), neutrality(we have opt outs and can retain our triple lock), a common defence policy(it is repeatedly stated in the treaties that collective action of any kind cannot compromise the neutrality of particular states), etc etc etc.

In short, there is nothing to renegotiate.

The French and Dutch weren’t cast out into the wilderness when they voted no and neither will we. The economic arguments for a yes vote are hogwash considering Dutch unemployment fell to 2% after the no and FDI into France doubled.

That is nothing but speculation given that it hasn’t happened yet. Between the time the french rejected the constitution and ratified the lisbon treaty, they did not suffer. The british and danes have been able to negotiate opt outs, one that can be seen on the ground, from previous treaties and have not suffered. To claim that we will suffer because we rejected some treaty is nonsense. If the no side wins one of two things will happen. Cowen will take the Robert Mugabe route and hold ballot after ballot until they get the result they want like they did with Nice, or they can go back and negotiate a better deal and address the concerns relating to collective bargaining, the loss of a commissioner, neutrality, a common defence policy, etc etc etc.

And there is no comparison between the outrageous statements of elements in the No camp – on tax, on abortion, on gay marriage, on defence – and the suggestion that Ireland will suffer if the treaty is rejected.

Ireland _will_ suffer if Lisbon is rejected. It will suffer for a period of time at least because our political capital account in Brussels will be reset. We can cry about it, we can whinge about democracy, but we will damage our ability to pull favours in any immediate discussions in the EU. All people I have heard with experience in EU negotiations or deal making say that building alliances, trust and diplomacy count for far more than voting weights which are rarely used.

But what about the French and Dutch? The French government has ratified Lisbon and the Dutch have yet to put it through ratification. But in essence, Lisbon, which is plan B, has not yet been rejected elsewhere. The political momentum is behind this integration project still and if Ireland stops it, it will not be a nice time in Europe for our diplomats, ministers, and representatives. That is the reality, not scare mongering.

But there is no place in the No camp for political reality. The bulk of the No camp, in all its various and ugly guises, is about as far from political reality as one can get.

In the last few days of most campaigns the emphasis is on getting your vote out and placing last minutes doubts in minds of those likely to vote for your opposition.

Some elements within the No side have used nothing but scare tactics the whole through and some Yes campaigners have treated none of the arguments on the No side with even a modicum of respect. I think it is quite easy to point out individuals and organisations on both sides that have avoided any positive engagement through. The question is if the people chose to listen to them over the others who have made positive efforts to debate the actual content and detail what does that say about the electorate?

BTW has anyone noticed http://www.eiregobrach.ie ? This is truly crazy. I was handed a leaflet of their’s at Connolly Station at the weekend. Really scary people.