The Hidden Debate on Democracy in Ireland

The EU Council met in Brussels last week and decided that, for the second time, Ireland will hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, a document that is strangely similar to the failed EU Constitution. Ireland rejected the Lisbon Treaty in June of this year by an overwhelming percentage, effectively killing the Treaty, as it requires ratification by all 27 member states to pass.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen told fellow EU leaders, however, that if Ireland received legally binding concessions on issues of importance to the Irish people, the government would provide what Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin called a “roadmap for ratification,” which would include a second referendum. The pertinent issues include military neutrality, abortion, and taxation.

Perhaps the largest concession by the EU is the promise to permanently allow Ireland to appoint an EU Commissioner. Under the Lisbon Treaty, the size of the EU Commission will be limited to 2/3 the size of the member states, meaning the states represented in the Commission will rotate and no one state, presumably now with the exception of Ireland, will be represented in every Commission. The second referendum will be held in October, 2009, with a target enforcement date of January, 2010.

The months leading up to the second referendum will be crucial for Declan Ganley and the Irish Libertas party. Ganley headed up the highly successful Irish No Campaign in June, and he is ready to fight again. He has announced the intention of his party, Libertas, to campaign in all the member states, putting up a candidate in every state for the parliamentary elections, with the sole purpose of rejecting the Lisbon Treaty and reforming Brussels, making it democratically accountable.

In an interview with BBC’s Mark Mardell, Ganley stated, “It is time that the people of Europe took the project back into our own hands and away from these elites in Brussels who have absolutely, manifestly shown their contempt for democracy.” He described Cowen’s deal with Sarkozy as a betrayal of the Irish people, citing the fact that a greater percentage of Irish people voted no on the referendum in June than American people voted for Barack Obama as president of the United States last month.

It would seem the EU can’t take the hint. The French and Dutch both voted no on the EU Constitution, so the EU re-worked it and re-named it and sent it out again. The Irish voted no on the Constitution-turned-Lisbon Treaty, and now they’re trying again. But the opposition is strong and determined. The Libertas party is pushing for transparency and democratic accountability in Brussels, and if their last show of strength is any indication, they will fight until the day the referendum is held in October. Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague called it a “serious mistake to take the Irish people for granted,” and Ganley and his party are determined to prove him right.

“Trying to force the Lisbon Treaty down the Irish people’s throats again is not only a dangerous distraction,” Hague stated, “it is profoundly undemocratic…It is no wonder that the EU is seen as increasingly unaccountable and out of touch if it won’t listen to what people are actually saying.”