Where we are on the 40th anniversary of joining the EEC.

This is part one of a two part series and the second article can be found here

The Political Basis of the EU:

All States and aspiring States have their myths of origin. The myth of origin of the EU is that it is a peace project to prevent wars between Germany and France - as if a tendency to go to war is somehow genetically inherited.

The actual facts are however that the first step towards supranational economic integration, the European Coal and Steel Community of 1951, was to facilitate German rearmament at the start of the Cold War with Russia and to reconcile France to that fact. The US wanted a rearmed West Germany inside NATO. This greatly alarmed France which had been occupied by Germany just a few years before.

Irish Referendum Practice from McKenna (1995) to McCrystal (2012).

This is part two of a two part series. To read the first article in the series you can find it here

By Anthony Coughlan

“We will fix that Stalinist body" ... Comment by the late Brian Lenihan TD on the then Referendum Commission, Autumn 2001, in the lead-up to the second Nice Treaty referendum.



And How They Fixed It:
In December 2001 the Fianna Fail Government then in office put a Bill through the Oireachtas (Legislature) amending the 1998 Referendum Act so as to remove from the statutory Referendum Commission its function of setting out in a fair and neutral manner the relevant arguments for and against any proposed constitutional amendment. This was done on the last day before the Oireachtas rose for the Christmas holidays that year, when all stages of the relevant Bill were pushed through the Dail and Seanad in one day, with two days notice to the Opposition. Because of these circumstances this move went virtually unnoticed by the Irish media at the time.

Presently we are being given a referendum on the 'Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union', ( the Fiscal Compact Treaty), this treaty lays out the 'conditions' of receiving a bailout from the European Stabilty Mechanism, which so far we are not being given a referendum on. These 3 aspects are inextricably intertwined, with the ESM being the mechanism, the article 136 TEFU amendment the instrument being used to enable the ESM to have a legal basis, while the fiscal compact treaty sets out the conditions for accessing finance through the ESM.

There are in fact 3 different aspects, only the last of which we are allowed a say on:
1. The article 136 TFEU amendment to the treaties.

2. The ESM treaty
3. The Fiscal Compact Treaty.

External Links: Fiscal Treaty will copper fasten austerity, make even emergency public expenditure impossible, and worsen poverty | Fiscal Treaty Files: The Fiscal Treaty is Unsafe, Uncertain and Unnecessary | Democracy instead of the Fiscal Treaty! | Do you know what the fiscal compact treaty is all about? | Fiscal Treaty Referendum Poll Result | Fiscal Treaty Files: The Fiscal Treaty is Unsafe, Uncertain and Unnecessary | Generating an Improved Debate on the Fiscal Treaty | Austerity Treaty flies in the face of 1916 Proclamation – Ó Caoláin | Why this really is an Austerity Treaty | EU summit adopts Fiscal Pact for European-wide austerity
Indymedia Links: People's Movment: Ireland has better options | Thomas Pringle Q&A: ESM Constitutional Challenge | Important Background & Analysis on SCG ("Fiscal Compact") Treaty, for Dáil Debate on Irish Referendum (Wed., Thurs., Fri.) | Irish Constitutional challenge to ESM | The Recession, Bank Bailout or our Deficit? | Mandate To Default On The Unjust Bank Debt That Is Sinking Our Economy
Events: EU Permanent Austerity Treaty - why you should vote NO!
Document: The Fiscal Treaty
No Campaign Websites: http://www.nofiscaltreaty.net/ - Fight back and vote No! | http://no-fiscal-treaty.org/ | http://voteno.ie/ - Vote No to the EU Austerity Treaty | http://www.FarmersForNo.eu - Farmers For No

In the past decade on two separate occasions the government had to call referendums on critical issues relating to the EU and our national sovereignty and in both instances the government wanted us to vote Yes and in each case the country vote No, first for the NICE treaty and then for the Lisbon treaty. Both the Irish government and the EU itself in their fundamentaly undemocratic way rejected both of these exercises in our democratic rights and waited a short while before launching full scale propaganda onslaughts and got us to vote a 2nd time and by using mis-information, fear mongering and lies, they remolded public opinion such that we voted the 'correct' way -YES the second time around.

Now the government probably quite rightly senses it may not be able to fool us three days and in a bid to submit fully to the financial oligarchy which now seem to have the final say over most nations these days, the government are doing all they can to avoid another referendum and if this means running roughshod over the Constitution so be it. But first it is important that people understand what they are doing and should object and the People's Association Watchdog has done a very good job of high-lightling exactly what they are doing and the many sections or articles of the Constitution that they intend to ignore.

A Uachtaráin,

It is my assertion that the current government of the Irish Republic is attempting to initiate changes that will negatively impact the welfare of the people of Ireland.

An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny T.D. is seeking to circumvent the initiation of a referendum by seeking to have a ruling from the Attorney General which will deny the people of Ireland our constitutional right to self determination which is also a principle of international law.

I am hereby petitioning you with respect in your capacity as Uachtarán na hÉireann to invoke your powers under Article 27.5.1 to call a referendum on the ESM Treaty, a proposal I believe is of such national importance that the will of the people should be accordingly ascertained.

Article 15.4.1° The Oireachtas shall not enact any law which is in any respect repugnant to this Constitution or any provision thereof.

A trip down memory lane ... Lisbon Treaty: Three Strikes, You’re Out | The Lisbon Treaty and the triumph of technocracy | 13 things the Lisbon Treaty would do | Nice debate, shame about the treaty? | Nice and the corporate agenda: The changes to article 133 | Article 133 - The Elephant in the Living Room of the Nice II Debate | http://www.indymedia.ie/article133/ | Link 3

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They don't represent us! Rights are won, not given! We are not commodities! It is not a crisis, it is a con! If you take our future, we will take the city! We are the children of comfort but we will not be parents of conformity!

Sunday June 19th will see Europe-wide protests against the forthcoming ratification of the Euro Pact. As part of this international mobilisation, Real Democracy Now! Ireland have organised demonstrations around the country. Simultaneous protests will take place at 4pm at the following locations:

• The Spire, O’Connell Street, Dublin
• O'Connell Street, Limerick
• Grand Parade, Cork
• Spanish Arch, Galway.

The Irish demonstrations are a response to a call from Spain’s Real Democracy Now! movement for a co-ordinated European response on the 19th June to the upcoming ratification of this Pact.

The event planners hope that by combining public protest and public assembly, everyone present at the events will have a chance to speak, express their grievances, and take collective decisions on further actions against the imposition of austerity across Europe.