ISN welcomes Lisbon Treaty rejection

national | anti-capitalism | press release

Saturday June 14, 2008 14:53

by Irish Socialist Network

irishsocialistnetwork at dublin dot ie

087 1258325

After the “No” vote – time to fight for a democratic, social and de-militarised Europe

The Irish Socialist Network welcomes the decision of the Irish people to reject the Lisbon Treaty – a document that would have promoted the militarisation of the EU, entrenched Thatcherite principles in European law, and further undermined democracy. After this result, the Lisbon Treaty should be dead and buried. No re-hashed, re-packaged version of the same document should be foisted on the people of Europe. No means no.

The clear “No” vote is a stinging rebuke for the Irish political elite. The main political parties, with over 90% of the seats in the Dáil, called for a “Yes” vote in the referendum. They asked people to trust them and their judgement when they cast their votes. There is one clear message now – the Irish people have no confidence in their political leaders.

The establishment parties may still have a stranglehold over the Dáil, helped by their massive advantages in terms of funding, media coverage and party organisation when it comes to election time. But the consent with which they rule is extremely fragile. Anyone taking a look at the constituency maps can see for themselves – working-class people were most likely to vote “No”. They are the ones with the least reason to trust our political elite, which again and again shows itself to be in the pocket of big business.

What else can we learn from the result? A number of government ministers have claimed that people voted “no” because they wrongly believed that the EU would legalise abortion. But opinion polls showed that abortion was only an issue for a small minority of “No” voters (according to last week’s Irish Times poll, just 5% gave abortion as a reason for voting “No”). The same goes for corporation tax, which was a marginal concern.

It seems clear that the main reason people voted “No” was because they didn’t understand what was in the Lisbon Treaty. Their thinking was sound, because the Treaty was deliberately crafted to be incomprehensible to the average citizen. Many EU figures involved in the drafting process admitted as much – their goal was to conceal the most controversial proposals by surrounding them with jargon and gobbledygook.

The issue of neutrality and militarisation was also very important. Pro-Lisbon campaigners repeatedly claimed that Irish neutrality was safeguarded by the Treaty. It was hard to tell what planet these people were living on – here on Earth, Ireland is already participating in the brutal occupation of Iraq by allowing US troops to pass through Shannon airport. We don’t have any neutrality to safeguard.

If Ireland is going to have a progressive foreign policy that promotes peace and development and opposes military aggression by the big powers, we will have to start again from scratch. The Irish people took a first step along that road by rejecting a Treaty that called for EU states to increase their military spending and embraced the same doctrine of “pre-emptive war” that has led to a bloody catastrophe in Iraq.

Irish workers had good reason to be worried about other clauses of the Lisbon Treaty that promoted the privatisation of public services. These harmful measures led UNITE, Ireland’s second-biggest union, to call for a “No” vote. They were also highlighted by the broad “No” campaign that united the progressive and socialist Left in opposition to Lisbon.

The Irish Socialist Network played a full role in that campaign. Our members distributed tens of thousands of leaflets in working-class areas of Dublin putting across the left-wing case for a “No” vote. In particular, we worked hard to persuade the people of Dublin North West, where there was a 64% majority for the “No” side on polling day.

Government spokesmen have told us we need to consider how we can “move forward” after this result. For once, we agree with them – in Ireland, the Left which opposes militarism and neo-liberal attacks on the working class needs to ask how we can build on this victory. We have to set about constructing a new radical force, broader than any of the existing groups, that can mobilise people in communities and work-places all over Ireland to fight for an alternative to the status quo. The Irish Socialist Network will play its part in building that alternative.

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Comments (13 of 13)

Why not socialist?

by socialist

Sat Jun 14, 2008 17:06

Why not a democratic, demilitarised SOCIALIST europe? Why the soft-left, reformist slogan? No problem with Cauec etc using it, but ye caim to be socialist revolutionaries, no?

Enough already

by Another socialist

Sat Jun 14, 2008 18:29

Contribution which anonymous giving out on Indymedia can make to building a new left = zero

Comment

by cactus flower

Mon Jun 16, 2008 14:50

In the week that is in it, discussion with other european socialists on how to push forward a new socialist agenda for Europe would be a good step.

uh huh

by isn'er

Mon Jun 16, 2008 15:56

We're three steps ahead of you there. Watch this space.

Real left unity and solidarity with left forces on the continent are essential if we are to get anywhere.

Hello Brussels – Are you listening to us?

by MichaelY - CAEUC/iawm

Mon Jun 16, 2008 17:18

The NO side won a comprehensive victory of 53.4% against 46.6% of the 1,621,037 people who voted in last Thursday’s Referendum on the Lisbon Treaty (participation was 53.1% - twice as high as those who voted in the first Nice Referendum).From the 43 constituencies nationally 33 voted NO!! And as an ex-Irish PM lamented: “The result was very class divided….the NO vote was strongest, up to 65% in working class areas…” Our victory came in the face of a NO side, made up by a variety of small left wing organisations, a couple of Trade Unions and Sinn Fein, having to confront the entire political establishment [all four major Parties: Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour and the Parliamentary Party of the Greens], every conceivable employer organisation, the Catholic Church establishment, the powerful Alliance for Europe and 95% of the media.

There were 3 main reasons for the NO victory:
The utter contempt shown by the YES side towards the public by refusing to distribute the Treaty to households (“it’s too complicated – people wouldn’t understand”), by refusing to debate the contents of the Treaty and relying instead on ideological subterfuges (“Europe has been good to us – it’s our turn to be good to Europe”, “lets be in the heart of Europe”), etc.
The potency of the three main arguments put forward by our NO campaign: (1) our people's desire to remain neutral and the threat of galloping militarisation; (2) fear of the effect of the Treaty's free market/undistorted competition focus on the future of public services, particularly health and education; (3) the perceived threat against workers rights following the recent decisions by the ECJ (Laval, Viking and Ruffert).
The general impact of the arguments put forward re: the democratic deficit, the loss of the Commissioner and the decrease in the already small voting power of Ireland in the Commission and the European Parliament

The left/progressive element of the NO campaign has been working diligently since mid-November 2007. Our Campaign is an umbrella grouping of affiliated organisations that had reached 15 by mid-May ’08. While some of the affiliates conducted their own autonomous campaign, there was tight internal cohesion in the Campaign website [www.sayno.ie], the Campaign literature, our meetings all over the country and the Press Releases and
statements.
My own personal evaluation of the Campaign, as a National Co-ordinator over the final 10 weeks, is that it has worked exceptionally well and may set the basis for further programmatic and political unity among most if not all the affiliates.

It is to be noted that the extensive political work of our Campaign, our 10,000 32 pp pamphlets, our more than 600,000 leaflets, our door-to-door canvassing, the 60 or so country-wide meetings were largely ignored by the mainstream media. It was only on Saturday June 14th that the Irish Times published for the first time sections of our victory Press Release. The Irish media were largely on the YES side while some dissent was shown by the UK owned smaller publications.

What does the future hold for us? Where do we go from here?

As these lines are being written, a mere 48 hours after our NO victory, we are already confronted by a political scenario operating on two distinct, parallel and potentially conflicting lines. One the hand, we are living in a domain of enthusiasm, of celebration of the popular forces – so rare in Ireland – and a wave of support and congratulations flowing at us from all over Europe, particularly France, Germany, Austria and Greece. This is no dreamland and there is no Alice who doesn’t live here anymore.

On the opposite plane, there is the anguish, the dejection, the incomprehension of what exactly happened shown by the political elites. At home, the main political parties are blaming each other for not doing enough while the pro-YES media are jeering at them for managing the extraordinary trick of making the YES sound anything but positive.

In Europe, as Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Martin is going to Brussels on Monday and the Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Cowen is readying himself to go to Brussels and explain himself on Wednesday, the mood is in crisis mode. Brussels, Paris, Berlin and :London are said to be in shock while the London Financial Times headlined: “Irish poll delivers big blow to EU morale”!!

It is far too early to speculate what medicine the Eurocrats may prescribe to ease their pain, what machinations and scenarios may develop. We will have some time to come back to this as we ourselves sit down and start discussing our next moves. There are a few things though that can be said as a conclusion to this article. Our political traditions in Ireland come from the Enlightenment of the 18th century, of the republicanism of the American revolution against the British, our republicanism in the colonial struggle over the last 150 years, the internationalist socialism of Larkin and Connolly and Constance Markievicz .
We believe that democracy is one of the best ever ideas and realities developed in Europe and we are telling Brussels to respect it. France voted NO, the Netherlands voted NO and now we have voted NO!! Respect the democratic spirit of our people, start defining Europe, our Europe, not merely as a paradise for industrial, military and financial multinationals and, instead, think about workers rights, the environment and an end to military aggression. Think of the messages the democratic process is bringing to your doorstep.
Our wish is for a democratic, demilitarised and social Europe.
We are waiting impatiently for your response.

Michael Youlton – National Co-ordinator of the NO Campaign (CAEUC)
Dublin June 15th

PS The CAEUC and its affiliate organisations are having a full meeting on Saturday June 21st at 11.00 in the Teachers Club. All activists welcome

WTF

by caeuc activist

Mon Jun 16, 2008 21:20

Who made Michael Youlton 'National Coordinator' of CAEUC??? I remember no such decision. Is this for real?

As far as I know, Youlton just staffs the office and answers the phones. This 'National Coordinator' thing is a label he's attached to himself. He's nothing of the sort!

Reply to CAEUC 'activist'

by MichaelY - CAEUC.iawm

Mon Jun 16, 2008 21:43

With activists like u sunshine who needs the YES cabal? Consult the minutes of the meetings you obviously missed and quit being personal and divisive.

What group is that?

by Curious

Mon Jun 16, 2008 22:14

What group is the CAEUC.iawm? Are they new?

splintered unity

by eddie

Mon Jun 16, 2008 22:38

I yawn when I read that after the successful campaigning against the Lisbon Treaty we are going to witness a surge in "further programmatic and political unity". We're going to see no such thing alas. Anybody visiting the threads of indymedia in the past few months will realize that the splinter groups kept pushing their 'lines' and their brand names throughout the campaigning. They're all wary of each other - deep entry and all that. They will push their own candidates in next year's local elections and get some hardworking candidates elected - good for them. Left unity seems like an oxymoron. One other illusion floating around is that the treaty rejection heralds a new left wing dawn. Nothing of the sort. Come the next general election and voters will huddle around the 80% bien pensant cluster of FF-FG candidates, with maybe a small percentage surge towards independents.

eddie

by me

Tue Jun 17, 2008 09:41

That's right eddie we should all throw our hands in the air and with a cynical sigh, join People Before Profit.

The 'splinters' that you dismiss have been the backbone of most progressive campaigns in this country since the 1960s. And whether left unity is an illusion or not, at least those seeking it are looking for constructive ways of working together. Some of us prefer not to wallow in despair.

A bit of light

Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:54

Don' t know, and very much doubt, if the pessimistic and despairing Eddie above is the same Eddie who worked so hard in the NO campaign, who chaired Trade Union meetings, who did his best to promote our left wing and progressive NO position.
Me's message above I wholeheartedly agree with....we have an opportunity - we have a few weeks ahead when the Right is in shock and shambles....where they will blame each other, attempt to distance themselves from their continuous fuck-ups. This is a time-delimited situation and come September/October they will start planning again.
We should use this opportunity, this chink whence light comes in (to quote Leonard Cohen) and talk to each other - see what's possible. By starting tonight in Wynns Hotel where Joe Higgins is having his gig. Then next Saturday at 11.00 in the Teachers Club where the CAEUC will have its first post-victory get together. Let us not repeat the French mistake of the Left where they sat in their laurels after their NO in 2005 and gave Sarkozy time to regroup and get on top.
I can see where Eddie (whoever he may turn out to be) is coming from but I very much hope for all of us that we can prove him wrong.
What comes to mind is an old adage of an Italian comrade: "There is lots of confusion out there, the situation is, therefore, excellent"!!

Keep the ball rolling

by Audi - MN

Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:08

Why don't you publish details of these meetings more widely ? You can do it on www.politics.ie and on machine nation you don't have to log into the Europe forum as it's open to guests.

http://machinenation.forumakers.com/the-open-europe-for...-f30/

It would be disappointing if this impetus was lost now. Cowen and Co. will have to go to Brussels or Strasbourg in October with some ideas and it would be well if there was a message from the Left...

Lets Hear it From the Left

Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:38

It is urgent for the fact that there is a left alternative vision of europe to get out into public view. There is are thousands of people including a lot of young people who are talking about Lisbon and open to this debate. I hope your meeting goes well, but can you also get some press releases out there, sit on RTE for a few minutes coverage and hit the boards? The right wing are dominating the discussion at the moment.

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ISN welcomes Lisbon Treaty rejection

Comments (13 of 13)