Lisbon, Dustin & The Eurovision Theory of Politics
Jun
16
Written by:
6/16/2008
Sound Waves was not in favour of Lisbon, and didn't get the joke about RTE sending Dustin to Eurovision either but we are glad in retrospect that they did because the 2by4 turkey might just have opened our eyes to the danger of the attempted sellout of our Constitution by the Say Yes to Lisbon lobby.
First things first, Sound Waves was against the Lisbon Treaty and viewed the YES lobby as attempting nothing less than selling out the Irish People and the Irish Constitution of 1937. In fact, Sound Waves took the view that either the YES lobby did not understand the true implications of ratifying the treaty or they were lying through their teeth. How against are we ? Lets put it this way, in the 2009 local elections we will be voting for Sinn Fein and to be honest Sound Waves would not be a Sinn Fein supporter. Let me qualify that, we are going to vote Sinn Fein but only as long as they do not strike a vote transfer deal with anyone, individual or organisation that supported a YES vote for Lisbon, or alter their position on Lisbon.
I'm not sure when or where the penny dropped that the EU, after enlargement, was not some big Pro-Paddy love in but I suspect, intimations of it came when Dustin was being booed at the Semi Finals of the Eurovision in the former stronghold of the genocidal mass murderer Slobodan Milosovic, Belgrade. Friendly people the Serbians, as long as you don't live beside them, or near them, or anywhere that they can reach by tank. I guess Dustin got off light, a little booing is certainly better then being raped, shot in the back of the head and then dumped in an unmarked, mass grave. But hey, that was back in the 1990s. Now I'm not anti the former Eastern Bloc, I'm just pro democracy and human rights, issues that EU member states such as Poland and Romania have an, at times, less than firm grasp as may be seen with regard to their role in rendition, something that the EU itself rebuked them over.
But I am digressing. You see, I didn't understand why we would send Dustin or even why some Irish people expected that he might do reasonably well. It appeared to me that Europe in general would not get the joke in the same way that Italian game shows would be incomprehensible to us in Ireland. I just didn't expect the booing and neither did all those Irish people tuning in to see Dustin roasted live on air. Perhaps, just perhaps the penny dropped that the EU was not that friendly a place to be and that we need to hold on to our existing assets, such as a Constitution so robust and vital that it ensured through the legal action of Raymond Crotty that we got to vote on Lisbon in the first place, for dear life.
In one sense Dustin's Serbian adventure was a failure, but on another level, I suspect we owe the bird a debt of thanks.
6 comment(s) so far...
Re: Lisbon, Dustin & The Eurovision Theory of Politics
Jules, It means I have to bite my tongue but I'm not rising to the tempting bait you've laid on the table (voting Sinn Fein because some Serbian fellas booed a puppet at an inconsequential cheese-fest?!) Anyways... I am massively pro-Yes, and am gutted at No vote. Yes, it is a treaty with imperfections, but that is unavoidable with a document that is a compromise agreed between 27 nations. But it is no "sell out the Irish People and the Irish Constitution of 1937", although many of the No campaigns used blatant misinformation - as is their democratic right - to give such an impression. That many voters could not see through is something I blame on the incompetent, complacent, lacklustre, uninspired and uninspiring Yes campaigns who started too late and couldn't effectively present the positive aspects of the treaty (of which there are many) as they were always on the defensive. The end result is that 35 years of skilled diplomacy and sheer hard work by the Irish which resulted in us having influence and respect in Brussels that was massively (I repeat: massively) disproportionate to our population, is now gone. We were in the vanguard and in the driving seat to influence things (a) for the better of all member states and (b) better for Ireland. The trouble is that the a 'No' vote built on misinformation (and funded by a businessman with concrete links to the American military machine...) has resulted in this goodwill and influence being blown overnight. But it's not like we are now without friends. We got ourselves a whole new bunch. All of a sudden we are loved by a new crew, who never before gave a damn about us: The loonies of the UKIP, the deeply offensive Jean-Marie Le Pen, the Tories, the list goes on. Excuse the lazy use of the cliché, but who needs enemies when you have friends like these? What the hell have we done? We've blown it. Our glory days in Europe are over. The EU, despite its flaws, is a progressive force for good. It is not pro-business, it is pro-consumers and pro-citizens. It gives Europe a strong unified voice - while respecting national sovereignty - for addressing global issues that impact us directly such as climate change, energy markets (what's that 30% ESB rise on the way...?), the rise of China etc. It's no time for pulling up the drawbridges, especially when you throw in the economic downturn, be it domestic or global. eoghan.
By admin on
6/19/2008
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Re: Lisbon, Dustin & The Eurovision Theory of Politics
A few points, if we had voted YES to Lisbon we would have automatically lost our constitutional right to ratify any future treaties or changes to same by constitutional referendum, a right which was enumerated in Raymond Crotty v An Taoiseach. The removal of any aspect of the people's franchise is an attack on democracy. We would have allowed the ECJ to have competence in the area of justice and crime, and consequent supremacy over decisions of the Courts of Ireland, the ECHR Act 2003 and the protections of the Irish Constitution, not withstanding that the ECJ does not recognise the ECHR. We would have granted the EU exclusive competence over customs, a serious whittling away of our sovereignty. From a party political point of view, Sinn Fein have given people who would not have previously voted for them, a legitimate reason for ticking them on the ballot. And having been told by the Referendum Commission that Lisbon would not be introduced if we voted no, spin doctors are now hinting that it will come in regardless, which makes rubbish of claims that Lisbon is pro democracy.
By Rev Jules on
6/19/2008
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Re: Lisbon, Dustin & The Eurovision Theory of Politics
Jules, can you point me to the article in the Lisbon Treaty that says Ireland would have automatically lose its constitutional right to ratify any future treaties? As for the other points you made the ECJ already has supremacy over Irish law in many legal areas, why have a problem with it having competency in other legal areas? And in so doing offering, for example, further legal channels to those questioning a doubtful judgement they receive from Irish courts? And as for customs, the EU already has competency in that area - the EU is a customs union for donkeys years now. It's not like a customs union just crops up for the first time in Lisbon. And why should the ECJ not have supremacy over the Irish ECHR Act of 2003? The 2003 act just embeds the European Convention into Irish law. It's a European articulation of Human rights, so it is only right that the final word should also be with a body that is European. That the Lisbon treaty would ditch the Irish constitution is a load of smoke and mirrors that was drummed up by the fringe groups with other axes to grind. It does not stand up to scrutiny and - alas - the 'Yes' camp never effectively deflected this. A consequence of all this is we now find ourselves in simply the biggest diplomatic screw up in the state's history, with a bunch of right wing racist whackos singing our praises. On top of that our influence on the EU (hence global) stage has been MASSIVELY compromised. The 'No' campaigners did not debate the referendum - in the main - on matters of substance that really reflected the content of Lisbon but on misinformation. This is a fact. Was it De Gaulle who said "In referendums people answer questions they were never asked"? Eoghan.
By admin on
6/20/2008
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Re: Lisbon, Dustin & The Eurovision Theory of Politics
Re losing constitutional rights to ratify changes to treaties I dont need to refer to the document, it is dealt with by the Referndum Commission at this link
http://www.lisbontreaty2008.ie/lisbon_treaty_changes_gov.html
under the headline
Proposed Changes - Power to Change the Treaties
What this means in effect that the people are giving to the executive a power which was previously vested exclusively with them.
You are missing the point with the ECJ, it does not recognised Human Rights and is not bound by the ECHR, which is not part of the main body of EU law as the EU does not recognise it either.
The YES lobby have been keen to make links between NO voters and right wing whackos, its a neat spin trick but it is patent nonsense, the electorate voted by a landslide on election day against the treaty.
This treaty is a constitution in disguise that will replace our own hard fought human rights based constitution and that is not my opinion, that is the opinion of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
which you can read in full at the following link
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/valeacutery-giscard-destaing-the-eu-treaty-is-the-same-as-the-constitution-398286.html
The YES lobby tried to sell us out, and they failed.
By Rev Jules on
6/21/2008
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Re: Lisbon, Dustin & The Eurovision Theory of Politics
Actually, one of the major benefits of Lisbon was that it would indeed enable the ECJ to recognise the ECHR, and the ECtHR would be regarded as a court of appeal. Given that the ECtHR is arguably the best (by far) human rights court in the world, as it has shown over its history, this would be a good thing. Lisbon would also, significantly, open the possibility of the EU itself asceding to the ECtHR, and it would give the EU competency to judge on domestic counter-terrorism laws, such as 42 day detention in the UK, which is currently outside its remit.
In terms of Sinn Feinn, while they way have been on the winning side, that doesnt really make them winners ;) I was amazed by the naivety of a party who has a long history or representation within Europe, even though, personally, i think their pro-europe stance is a load of shit, as evidenced by their voting history. No treaty is a perfect document, it is, inevitably, a product of compromise. This is what Lisbon was, but it was an excellent text, and one which was the product of many years of negotiation, to vote against it on some nebulous "better deal" argument was, politically, inept.
I dont think that the majority of the Irish population rejected Lisbon, the majority of the Irish population were misled by a very effective no campaign which, unfortunately, lied to the people. Look at all the worry regarding conscription, abortion, the death penalty (for fucks sake! this one is really ridiculous) taxes, or some european super army...
it will be interesting to see where this goes, i dont sit easy with the idea of a new referendum, even though i strongly disagree with the result.
By Daragh on
6/23/2008
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Re: Lisbon, Dustin & The Eurovision Theory of Politics
a) I suspect that any attempt at holding a second referendum would face a constitutional challenge.
b) the ECTHR is already a court of appeal for irish citizens,
c) The idea that the EU would accede to the ECHR is a red herring, it is an IF only
d) The NO campaign had the great advantage that they had read the treary, unlike the Taoiseach and they knew how many EU commissioners there were, unlike the Tainiste.
e) The UK will not be bound by the proposed Charter of Human Rights of the EU, nor will Poland, at present the UK is bound by the ECHR as part of the Good Friday Agreement, as is Ireland, however we also enjoy robust protection of our human rights thanks to the Irish Constitution.
By Rev Jules on
6/23/2008
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