Last time around, the Irish turned down the opportunity to become a part of the European Union, or should I say subservient to the EU.
I'll be damned if any flag fies above the Stars and Stripes.
DUBLIN -- Irish voters approved the European Union's Lisbon Treaty in a substantial shift of sentiment, with 67% voting in favor and 33% against, according to the final count announced Saturday.
The big swing to a "yes" vote, after the Treaty was defeated in a previous referendum, was helped by a rise in voter turnout to 59%, with high support seen across the country. Irish government leaders, who strongly supported the treaty, were celebrating.
Correct me if I am wrong, but seems to me the reason the Irish last time declined the offer of slavery was because their economy was doing better than the average EU loser.
Now the sheep, having a hard time look for a savior.
Ireland's finance minister, Brian Lenihan, said that the dramatic swing to a "yes" vote will be a "first step" in Ireland's economic recovery. "We are in a very difficult place and that's precisely why people voted 'yes,'" he told RTÉ.
Yup, near sighted emotional votes.
"We need Europe's support at present," said Garret FitzGerald, who was Ireland's prime minister in the 1980s
Need support today, tomorrow you will be supporting welfare states like France.
Ireland's prime minister declared victory for the Europeans Union's Lisbon treaty, keeping alive the bloc's hopes of implementing reforms that it believes will increase its global influence. Video courtesy of Reuters.
The big swing to a "yes" vote, after the Treaty was defeated in a previous referendum, was helped by a rise in voter turnout to 59%, with high support seen across the country. Irish government leaders, who strongly supported the treaty, were celebrating.
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen told a press conference packed with foreign media that the referendum was carried "decisively." He thanked help from the civic organizations and opposition parties who had lined up behind the treaty. "Today's vote is a declaration of intent to remain at the future of Europe," he said, "where we belong."
The Irish last June rejected the treaty—which will establish a permanent president and foreign minister for the EU, and give more authority to Brussels— by 53% to 47% in a referendum. This time, rural and working-class parts of the country, where many felt the Celtic Tiger boom had whisked past them and where "no" votes were strong last time, appear to have turned to "yes" after a campaign that closely tied Ireland's economic future to the EU.
The Irish flag flies next to a European Union flag near the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels.
Anti-treaty groups were conceding defeat. "I'd like to congratulate the Taoiseach, who ran an absolutely masterful campaign," said Declan Ganley, the leader of "no" group Libertas, referring to Ireland's prime minister. "They know how to overturn a result that doesn't suit them."
In the EU capital, officials rejoiced and quickly began laying the groundwork for the bloc's new structure, though a hurdle remains: The Czech Republic's euroskeptic president, Václav Klaus, has refused to sign his parliament's ratification of the treaty.
Nonetheless, this month will see a scramble to pick officeholders for the new top jobs as pressure builds on Mr. Klaus to drop his objections.
"I see the 'yes' vote as a sign of confidence from the Irish people in the European Union," said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. "As soon as the European Council is ready I will be ready to start forming the new commission."
Ireland's finance minister, Brian Lenihan, said that the dramatic swing to a "yes" vote will be a "first step" in Ireland's economic recovery. "We are in a very difficult place and that's precisely why people voted 'yes,'" he told RTÉ.
"We need Europe's support at present," said Garret FitzGerald, who was Ireland's prime minister in the 1980s and who had come to the cavernous hall in south Dublin Saturday morning where ballots from the city were being counted. He pointed out that the European Central Bank is providing substantial liquidity to Ireland's beleaguered banking system. "Don't kick them in the teeth," he said. "Europe is enormously important to us."
Inside the building, poll workers dumped black boxes of paper ballots from the capital onto long tables, where other workers thumbed through them by hand.
By late morning, nearly all the ballot boxes from the Dublin South East constituency had been counted. The votes were 78% in favor of the treaty. In last year's referendum, 62% voted "yes." Counts from RTE showed several constituencies elsewhere in the country switching from "no" to "yes." Dublin North, which split 50-50 in 2008, had 72% "yes."
After Lisbon's failure in 2008, EU leaders moved to get Ireland to try the vote again.
They agreed, at Ireland's insistence, that all countries would continue to have representatives on the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm. In the first running, the treaty envisioned shrinking the commission—a point seized on by the "no" campaign to show it would leave the EU's less-populous nations with weakened influence.
The Irish government also received guarantees that Lisbon wouldn't mean Ireland loses sovereignty over controversial matters like abortion and military neutrality.
Ireland alone among the 27 EU countries put the Lisbon Treaty to a vote. The others ratified it through their parliaments.
Mr. Klaus's allies in the Czech senate have launched a constitutional court challenge to the treaty. (Poland's president, also a euroskeptic, hasn't signed either, but he has said he will if the Irish vote "yes.")
The Czech court has already ruled once that the treaty is constitutionally permissible, and some analysts say the new challenge is a stalling tactic with little chance of success. The court is expected to rule by the end of the month.
"He is under a lot of pressure domestically already, and he will be under a lot more pressure after today," Jiri Pehe, a political analyst and the director of New York University's program in Prague, said Saturday as results from Ireland became clear. If the court gives its blessing to the treaty and Mr. Klaus continues to refuse, "he would be in real danger of being impeached" or otherwise removed from office, Mr. Pehe said.
A spokesman for Mr. Klaus didn't respond to requests for comment. The president is nominally the head of state in the Czech Republic, but his powers are limited and the prime minister wields most authority.
Assuming Mr. Klaus eventually signs the ratification, attention will swing to who gets the new top jobs in Europe—EU president and foreign minister.
Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister and currently leader of the liberal wing of the European Parliament, said in an interview that the new posts would allow Europe to "speak with one voice" on foreign policy. As prime minister, Mr. Verhofstadt shepherded the "Laeken Declaration" in 2001 that kicked off the creation of an EU constitution. The constitution failed after losing referendums in France and the Netherlands in 2005; the Lisbon Treaty is a watered-down version of that document.
"After eight years of battle, it succeeds," he said.
Mr. Verhofstadt said he believes the new president should be "high profile" but, just as importantly, "a believer in Europe and more European integration."
Former British prime minister Tony Blair has been widely touted as a possible president, but he could face serious opposition.
Former British prime minister Tony Blair has been widely touted as a possible president, but he could face serious opposition.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who have substantial weight in the vote to select the president, could decide they don't want Mr. Blair overshadowing them. Mr. Blair also is unloved by many in Europe for his support of the Iraq war.
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