.... except maybe with a second one. But enough of the Nice Treaty, thanks to Ciaran O'Kelly for doing the research for me. Europe is getting it's own Constitution but despite it's importance is low on the public horizon. Ciaran's linked to a information blog on the ratification process.
Claire McHugh says in a recent entry:
"Bertie Ahern has suggested that a 2005 date is only possible if the government feels that a well-informed debate has taken place in Ireland on the Constitution, otherwise the referendum will take place in 2006. There is also a sense that the Irish government prefers to wait to see the outcome of the ratification process in other countries, after its experience in June 2001 when the Nice Treaty was rejected in a very low turn-out. A second vote took place in October 2002 where Nice was approved, after a lengthy public campaign to educate voters about the Treaty"
Hmmm (OCT2002-JUN2001)=16months to "educate voters" the last time. There are only nine months left this year in which run an information campaign and thrash this out in the public domain.
Anybody taking bets? Strategically timed Referendum, well informed debate before the end of the year or as many referenda as it takes to get the right answer?
Re referendum on EU Constitution. If the Irish people vote no the Government will just keep asking them until they get the right answer. They, (Government) have a degree of legitimacy in doing this as they were allowed to ignore the people's wish in the Nice referendum. By not taking action against the Government, the people have by default given up the referendum process, it's just a charade now, just like our democracy. Anthony Sheridan
Posted by: Anthony Sheridan | March 11, 2005 at 12:51 AM