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Human Rights in IrelandPromoting Human Rights in Ireland |
Nice treaty: Not on my life!
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Friday September 27, 2002 12:50 by Ruairi - Canadian No to Nice Campaign
I said it once and I'll say it again: 'NO TO NICE' I'm out of the country and can't ram by no vote down their corrupt throats, so here's my rant instead.... THE NICE TREATY = Firstly, why do we have to vote again? Does no not mean no? Would they have a revote if we voted yes last time? What is democracy supposed to be about - voting until you get the right answer? What a heap of shit! I voted no like many others because I read the treaty document, understood it, and knew why. I was not confused or uneducated like Bertie said when apologising for our shameful behaviour to his corrupt bosses in Brussels and big business. Being made vote again is an insult and a spit in the face. It reminds me of a graffiti slogan I saw in Toronto that said 'if voting really changed anything, they'd make it illegal'. This is the biggest political election or referendum since 1918, when the Irish people voted by over 80% in favour of 32 County independence. The British response was gunboats in the Liffy and eventual partition of our island. This Treaty, like the one Collins signed, is a messy, dirty document which has very serious stipulations. Ignore if at your peril!!!! The treaty was negotiated as 100,000 protesters were beaten and battered as they tried to have their voices heard in Nice, France. The Republic of Ireland, with a constitution somewhat designed by rebels, allows us to vote in matters such as Nice. DeValera, despite his faults, knew what big powers can get up to and foresaw the likes of Nice happening. Ireland is the There WILL BE AN ARMY that includes non-EU member (And killer of 30,000 kurds) Turkey. The EU commission president Romano Prodi said 'if you don't want to call it an army, don't call it an army. Call it Mary Ann. You can call it whatever you want'. This violates our constitution and rights to have a say for peace. Bertie say's it's simply an army for peace, a rapid reaction force. Rapid reaction FARCE is more like it. I never heard of an army that creates peace. International law, the UN, mediation, sanctions maybe, but certainly not armies. Bertie and Charlie already started buying new 'peace' weapons, guns and tanks with YOUR MONEY before we even voted last time, an example of the arrogance and cockiness of our current corrupt establishment. Prodi also said that ratification of Nice is NOT NECESSARY FOR ENLARGEMENT. Enlargement can go ahead without Nice. I don't know anyone opposed to enlargement or 'sharing the wealth' except for the workers of the multinational companies who are sure to flee towards the cheap workforces of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. There is a very UNFAIR DEBATE and UNPROPORTIONAL FUNDING towards the issues, and a lot of name calling and scaremongering. The Greens, Sinn Fein and others opposed to the Treaty are not getting the time to debate it in the Dail or fair access to our media, including the publicly funded RTE. It is certain that the entire establishment (unions, politicians, press, lobby groups) are pro Nice and they are squashing debate. Some initial studies show the Irish Times giving about 66% of coverage to the Yes vote and the notoriously pro-business Independent giving about 87%.
Perhaps a look at Article 133 can explain why they love it so much! The EU is without a doubt seeking to CREATE A SUPERSTATE to rival the USA. Whilst something needs to be done about this rogue state, trying to equal or better it is not the way to go. Ireland has had enough of empires and their brutal lies and destruction. Why would be want to join another one? The EU seeks a COMMON FOREIGN POLICY. Ireland didn't join a superstate. We joined an ECONOMIC union in 1973. We were never asked about joining any other type of Union. This foreign policy will be controlled by Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Spain - all of which are huge weapons suppliers, feeding the worlds wars, and all of which have sickening colonial histories. Recently the EU gave $200million to the Colombian government to help 'fight terrorism'. Human Rights Watch estimates that the government is, in some way, behind about 90% of terrorism there!! DO YOU SUPPORT THIS? The Nice Treaty is about creating a 2 TIER Europe where Ireland loses its voice in 30 key policy areas. This spells control for the big boys and the suppression of small voices. ie. a further erosion of democracy - the taking of power from the individual and the community and the national government and selling it right off to the unaccountable bureaucrats of Brussels and big business. The EU and European Commission is notoriously corrupt. They recently sacked their chief accountant for comparing the EC accounting practices to the world's biggest corporate fraudster, Enron. Wasn't it only a few years ago that the entire commission had to bow out from a fraud scandal? Amazing how the papers and public forget!!! THIS IS A LAST CHANCE FOR IRELAND TO BE IRELAND. There has been a centuries old fight for us to create a different kind of country, not just one free of the Brits. We were fighting for equality and justice for all people not a select and rotten state that Haughey, Lawlor, Dunne, Burke and Bertie have created.
Neither do I recall having a say on planting genetically modified crops in Carlow that pollute our farms and food sources, or the huge price hikes that came with the Euro. I never got a say on the world's largest floating fishing factory that is now raping the much needed fish stocks of impoverished Mauritania. As their kids die, we are stealing their sources and future. We're no better than any other colonial power. The abused becomes the abuser they say. What about the global spying network (which watches over your phonecalls and emails) called Echelon? Did you know we were signed up to that last year as well? And electronic voting, a great idea? Not so! At this very moment there is a huge scandal (although not covered in the news) in Florida over the reliability of electronic voting. There are no records kept and it is wide open to tapping and fraud. No wonder that George Bush mysteriously 'won' the election in Florida, where electronic voting rules and so does his brother, fellow oil baron Governor Jeb Bush. It is a country that thrives of keeping its people ignorant through crappy TV and 'modern' education. Whilst there have been great booms and riches for a few, most live in a constant struggle for housing, healthcare, holidays, decent working hours and social services. While American workers work harder with more stress than any country on earth, their economy is kept ticking over by the huge debt interest repayments from Africa and South America and the profits from the oil and gas reserves they bully there way towards accessing in Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Afghanistan. Did you know the newly 'selected' (not elected) Afghan prime Minster Hamid Kazai's last job was working for American oil company Unocal? The same company that is now hard at work tapping the region's rich resources. And you taught the war was about September 11? Of course the EU has brought benefits. It is way more socially orientated that the USA and conservative Ireland. Nobody is denying this. This is not about leaving the EU, this is about a NEW, DIFFERENT EU, an EU more like the USA, where big business rules at the expense of you and me. Believe me, it will bring much more sickness than it has cured. It is absolute crap that we cannot stand up for ourselves and survive as a small nation. Whilst we have received about $20 billion in aid from the EU, we have given away many more billions by allowing Spanish and Portuguese trawlers to take our vast fishing stocks over the years. American companies come and go, depending on the grants offered to them, and take their profits with them, leaving behind ecological destruction and mass unemployment. Just like Fruit of the Loom did in Buncrana. Iceland, Denmark and other small countries know how to believe in themselves and stand up without begging. They can do so with confidence and their economies prosper! In fact, Denmark's currency strengthened when it refused to join the Euro. Did you know that one of the world's largest gas reserves was discovered off Mayo? We're gonna be rich! NOT SO!!! Because they bloody sold the rights off to Statoil and other oil giants. The biggest crooks are sitting in suits in Leinster house and their nice offices in Donegal and beyond. Go ask them what they're doing when they're not dining it up (with your money) with Charlie and co. The Nice Treaty is linked to a worrying political shift towards right wing parties, racism and corporate power. It is linked to a war for oil in Iraq and Afghanistan, environmental chaos and human rights violations the world over. DON'T BELIEVE ME, BELIEVE YOURSELF!....trust your instincts....but whatever you do - DO NOT AUTOMATICALLY TRUST THE NEWSPAPERS, MEDIA OR POLICITIANS!!!!! Do not be bullied and misled by false facts and statements of impending doom. Tune into Indymedia Ireland at http://www.indymedia.ie Don't trust the mainstream! The mainstream has brought us colonialism, corruption, poverty, 3rd world debt, George Bush, slavery and a host of other goodies. Will we ever learn? NO MEANS NO! Thanks and good luck! HEALTH, EDUCATION, FOREIGN AID CUTS AND A SUPREME "This, in terms of a campaign, will be a real campaign," Mr Ahern promised. "We're spending a large amount of money which we don't have, but we feel obliged to do that."
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Comments (4 of 4)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4to achieve as most other European citizens postal or other votes for their home state?
Why are disenfranchised?
can we have a reason please from one of the politicians or advice from constitutional lawyers?
When and indeed how may we begin such a campaign?
they don't give two shites for the Irish abroad, except those pseudo smiling green suited gits in Washington that claim Kennedy heritage or have a pocket full of 'investment' cash.
There have been a few emigrant vote campaigns, and most to my knowledge have been blatantly ignored.
The closest official Erron got to acknowledging the Irish abroad was Mary Robinsons emigrant candle in the Phoenix park - lovely gesture I'm sure!
In theory I fully support an emigrant vote campaign but I am very weary to do so because of the eijiting types that vote for Bertie and put Lowry back in (At no.1) despite obvious corruption reports.
Do you imagine the diaspora would change the pattern of voting?
our experience in Europe is yes, migrant votes do change the outcome.
Every election we campaign amongst the forgotton outside their home states.
If the Irish diasporia were accorded voting rights there would be several options on how it would work.
The most obvious seems to be a right to vote in the last constituency of residency in the Irish state as is the norm (in E.U.)
However the Irish constitution hold mechanisms to represent the diasporia in the Senate as well.
I personally am against that.
If we look back at the postal/electronic voting patterns for the last US election and UK elections we see a marginal "swing" factor.
I personally feel that there is a sense amongst Euro-Irish at least that we understand the issues of European State expansion better than many at home. I seriously doubt the Irish abroad would vote for the little rascals.