Interesting how Aer Lingus declared 500 redundancies straight after Lisbon was ratified. I expect Intel, who were pushing for a yes, to declare another 300 job losses tomorrow.
Sorry for all you Yessers working for these companies, who will be joining the dole queue after F.G. promising ‘Yes to Jobs’.
Don’t say you weren’t warned.
I was listening to an interview earlier on Newstalk and the presenter asked EU heavyweight Angela Merkel would Ireland be rewarded for ‘Doing Europe a favour for passing Lisbon’ with jobs and investment? Her reply was straightforward; No I don’t think so, It doesn’t work like that. You cannot be rewarded for this decision no more than you would have been punished for voting ‘No’ in the Lisbon treaty.
Tony Blair is in line to be proclaimed Europe’s first president within weeks if the Irish vote “yes” in today’s referendum.
Senior British sources have told The Times that President Sarkozy has decided that Mr Blair is the best candidate and that Angela Merkel has softened her opposition.
The former Prime Minister could be ushered into the European Union’s top post at a summit on October 29.
Ms Merkel, the German Chancellor, was opposed to Mr Blair because she believed that the post should go to a country that had adopted the euro but British sources said that she may now be “biddable” if Germany and France get plum posts in the new European Commission.
German sources insisted that it was far from clear that Ms Merkel had changed her mind and there were suggestions in Paris that Mr Sarkozy was happy to be seen to be backing Mr Blair because he knew that Ms Merkel would scupper the appointment.
Mr Blair, whose claims are being advanced by ministers in London, will not enter the race unless he is certain of winning. He is wary of giving up his many other commitments, spanning business, the Middle East, climate change and his Faith Foundation.
If the Irish ratify the Lisbon treaty — the result will be declared tomorrow — only the signatures of the Polish and Czech presidents will be needed for full ratification. Warsaw is expected to come on board swiftly. President Klaus is harder to predict but diplomatic sources expect him to agree quickly, possibly after receiving a sweetener from Germany.
The decision presents a dilemma for the Conservatives, whose conference takes place next week. David Cameron remains committed to a referendum on the treaty. He has declined to say what he would do if the treaty were ratified before the general election.
Despite pressure from Eurosceptics, he would be unlikely to hold a referendum if he came to power after ratification, which would mean renegotiating Britain’s relationship with the EU, but a Europe with Mr Blair at its head would worry Tories even more.
Ms Merkel has touted Jean-Claude Juncker, of Luxembourg, for the role, but the backroom dealer would hardly set European pulses racing. It is understood that President Sarkozy proposed Felipe González, of Spain, privately to Ms Merkel, but that she was suspicious of endorsing the Socialist.
Some reasons to vote ‘No’, there are many more but this is a small page! One point about the treaty, one about the Irish governments information campaign, one about the EU commission, one about the Irish media, one about the minimum wage, one about your children’s right to democracy, one about prominent ‘Yes’ Campaigners.
Below for your information is a copy of the letter that was delivered to Mr Justice Frank Clarke, Chairman of the Referendum Commissionn, from Anthony Coughlan last Thursday, with the most relevant passages highlighted in bold …
Michael O’Leary (Ryanair) has primarily admitted on TV3 that he is pushing a ‘Yes’ Vote to gain favour with the Irish government and EU so that he can take control of the Irish airline carrier ‘Aer Lingus’. He then adds that the ‘yes’ push is about getting 500,000 Irish people back working. We know which one he is sincere about! Here it is
The Michael O’Leary section starts about 18 Minutes in….
Hi Folks,
I actually feel a bit embarrassed posting this message as it’s obvious (to Most people anyway).
So I just want to state the obvious to the selectively deaf and blind out there! There is an element of the ‘Yes’ campaign that are under the illusion that the Lisbon Treaty will not change the Irish Constitution.
The ‘Lisbon treaty’ is referred to by the house of the Oireachtas as the ‘Twenty-Eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Treaty of Lisbon) Bill 2009′. Here it is on the oireachtas website
We must have referenda when OUR constitution is getting changed. Read some more
Welcome to the world of the European Commission and “Parliament”.
Introducing Jacques Barrot..
I needed a bag THIS BIG to carry it all!
A convicted criminal, he was convicted in a French court of embezzlement in 2000. The case involved the diverting of £2 million of government money to his party. He received an eight month suspended prison sentence but was pardoned by Jacques Chirac.
Barrot has been a European Commissioner since April 2004, serving as Commissioner for Regional Policy in the Prodi Commission before being selected as a Vice-President and Commissioner for Transport in the Barroso Commission. (Barroso ring a bell anyone? yes that is correct, the guest in Ireland this week of the ‘Yes’ campaign, they’ve been wining and dining this guy on our taxes.
So Barrot, convicted criminal, is a confidante of Barosso who is helping the government with its Yes campaign and he holds one of the major posts on Barosso’s commission! Yes we rewarded his Bad behaviour by giving him the vice presidency of the commission. Nice touch there folks. And finally introducing our old friend Irony. Yes, You guessed it, Barrot is not only a convicted criminal but he is The One, The Only, The Current EU Commissioner for Justice. Yoinks!
And such is the true nature of this Euro-Leviathan of a Commission that they just don’t care that he is a convicted criminal. “So what?” they ask. Yes, really!
1. The European Union has already created massive pockets of unemployment, with countries such as Spain – who have ratified Lisbon – suffering with unemployment rates of 18%. Why should Ireland sign up to a failing European Union?
2. About 450,000 people are unemployed, crushed by cuts, taxes, mortgage payments, on top of public bank-bail-outs and yet, the politicians who brought this upon Ireland are also asking for trust over the Lisbon treaty.
3. MEPs claim up to €1,000,000 in expenses each term, while massive job losses continue on an everyday basis.
4. Ireland remains a full member of the EU without the Lisbon treaty, and is in fact economically and politically better off without the treaty.
5. If Ireland votes No, she will continue to have access to Europe’s single market – the Lisbon treaty is concerned more with intensifying European government, using a constitutional document, which will crush trade, jobs and industry in Ireland . Read some more
I suggested in an earlier post (Here)that the most of the ‘yes’ posters were of spurious factual content. And and the ‘Yes to Jobs’ poster by Fine Gael was in particular unrelated to the treaty…..
High Court judge and head of the Lisbon Referendum Commission Mr Frank Clarke said in this weeks Irish Independent:
…claims that voting Yes for the Lisbon Treaty is a vote for jobs is misleading as the treaty itself contains no guarantees for this. “Claims that ratifying the treaty will affect job levels are political claims. The treaty itself contains no provisions on this,”
As I’ve said before, some politicians are trying to scare you into a yes vote and they are purposefully misleading you… Vote ‘No’ to Lisbon
