Impossible to call right now IMO.
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Impossible to call right now IMO.
We had a straw poll at work last week & something like 7-8 Yes to 1 No & he seemed to be wavering. Italian guy gave small speech about needing a strong EU & Head of the company joked that he could take the afternoon off if he brought his soap box to Stephen Green :p
The Media last weekend: "The No side have the momentum, the Yes side are facing an uphill struggle"
Last night: "Suddenly, it's too close to call" :rolleyes:
Obviously the Yes side have put the effort in since last week, but so have the No side, and on almost every poll I've seen on websites in the last couple of weeks, including here, it has a very clear No vote. The mood on the ground is that the electorate are resisting the government's bullying tactics. Only a couple of weeks ago, the result was apparantly a "shoo-in", for the TD's, the Trade Unions, Farmers, Big Business, and their other Yes men. People are starting to understand what a Yes vote will mean, and they're not happy with it. It's vital they express their opinion on Thursday.
Today there is meant to be a media embargo on the referendum yet the Indo are running with a scare strory about how a No vote will lead to longer dole queue. Seems like another cheap shot and another scarestory from the Yes campaign.
I think this Government is doing a good enough job of lengthening the dole queues without the benefit of a No vote.
Most in here are just absolutely bored with it at this stage, and don't seem to be bothering to vote.
I think it'll probably be a yes vote, the media has successfully manipulated it so Cowan and the yes side have had the last word all day yesterday (not that they focused on the actual treaty once). I guess then we'll see who was really lying if it is a Yes vote.
What does the turn out have to be in order to be legal? I don't know anyone who is going to vote, there seems to be great apathy towards it all.
I would be interested to hear an example of government bullying. Political parties are suppose to have an opinion & are pretty much duty bound to take one side & campaign for that. It is hard to sell the Yes side with obvious direct advantages for this country but some of the No side have the liberty to lie about emotive issues to scare people (abortion, euthanasia, gay marraige, adoptions etc...).
I'd call the scaremongering - if you vote No, it will go bad for you - bullying. So are the tactics of the No camp, but that's now what you asked.
Come off it pete, the Yes side have used the views of the loopers like COIR to tar the whole no side in the last few days - we've had the abortion stuff, libertas funding etc all this week from the Yes side (normally put to the Shinners or Socialist who clearly don't agree with that view). We've also had all "the sky will fall in" stuff from the yes side and we'll be thrown out of europe bull as well.
The only one's that have focussed on the actual treaty in the debates I've heard or seen have been the shinners and the socialists - joe higgins and especially Richard Boyd Barrett. Libertas have their moments, sometimes. Yes side didn't focus at all on the treaty.
My prediction is that as with most things people in Ireland get upset about and jump up and down promising us doom and gloom if we dont agree with them ( like the smooking ban ) is no matter which way it goes very little will change.
I think that's one thing that hasn't really been touched upon - the fact that the proposed alterations are actually being phased in between 2014 and 2017. As difficult as it is to decide how to vote (I think I'll see what mood I'm in in the booth) it seems even harder to make a decision on changes that, formally at least, won't manifest until six years down the line.
Given that everyone knows about it and has equal opportunity to present themselves at the polling station I'd imagine there's no requirement for a quorum. I couldn't be certain on that though, or whether provision is made for exceptional circumstances like flooding say. Interesting. :)
There isn't a minimum quorum, but a low turnout and a No vote will be used to justify going again. In fairness, a low turnout and a Yes would have the No side screaming for another vote on the basis of it not being a proper mandate, but without the power to do so.
Again, it'd depend on the outcome, imo.
That would please the peaceniks as won't be invading many countries with a gay army. :p
Reminds me of this book :D
Not sure about the gay element but article 27.3 does require us to increase our military capabilities so there is a militarisation aspect to it. There will be a European army, Sarkozy has outlined that as a plan for France's EU presidency and as part of the new EU with one foreign policy and one economic policy it will by default be our army too. I've outlined more than that directly applying articles of the treaty in other posts too.
Article 27.3 does not apply to the Republic of Ireland. The provisions previously made for us are not amended by this treaty. We no more have to militarise than we have to learn the Marseillaise. Also, states can group to have a their own common foreign policy if they like but it is not required and is in fact just a nod that they won't get chucked out of the EU if they do.
If this is your idea of directly applying articles of the treaty then you are severely misinformed.
“all member states shall undertake to progressively improve their military capabilities” We are not obliged to send the Irish army into any particular engagement but we are obliged to increase our military capability.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M89u1OMnJFA
They're hardly going to, Python-esque, put "all member states (except Ireland)" after every bloody concession we've gotten, are they? The piece that exempts us from these areas, and other exceptional pieces like the ones specific to islands like ourselves and the UK, are in seperate places in their own treaties.
We are, categorically, not required to improve our military capabilities.
I'd imagine there would be some political pressure applied in 100 years time when we've got the same 3 tanks and Chinamerica turn up on our door step with lasers... :D
Now that the Lisbon treaty is nearly over with when is the vote on the Lisburn treaty ive been hearing about ?