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.

Many issues have come up so far in the Lisbon debate, some very relevant, some less so. The key issues the Socialist Party have been raising so far are workers rights, public services and miltarisation. Elsewhere Joe Higgins has looked at the issue of workers' rights (http://www.joehiggins.eu/510) and public services (http://www.joehiggins.eu/489). Here, he goes into precisely how Lisbon boosts the armaments industry and is another step towards a militarised EU.

The absence of any detailed debate on the new provisions in the Lisbon Treaty concerning armaments policy and military strategy is quite alarming. This arises on the one hand from the reluctance of the 'Yes' side to highlight a face of the European Union which many Irish people would find revolting and on the other a blatant failure by the media to analyse these provisions.

It should be a matter of massive debate that, for the first time, the EU armaments industry is given a formal place in an EU Treaty. The role of the European Defence Agency is essentially to co-ordinate the armaments industry in the EU, making it an integral part of EU operations. Its tasks include: ‘implementing any measures needed to strengthen the industrial and technological base of the defence sector’ and to participate ‘in defining a European capabilities and armaments policy’ (Art. 42 TEU).

The EU armaments industry is the guilty secret that the EU political establishment likes to keep hidden. The major EU arms-exporting countries - France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Britain - account for one third of the world's arms deals. Their products include military helicopters, submarines which carry nuclear missiles and aircraft bombers. The largest armaments company in the United Kingdom, BAE, is currently in contention with other major contractors to get a contract with India for 130 Eurofighter combat aircraft. BAE already has a contract with Saudi Arabia for 72 Eurofighters.

Related Links:

- Assist with Joe Higgins & the Socialist Party's anti-Lisbon campaigning
- Read the pamphlet by the Peace and Neutrailty alliance on why they oppose the Lisbon Treaty
- Get involved in the broad left No to Lisbon Campaign
- Keep track of the latest articles from Joe on Lisbon throughout the campaign

There are plenty of good reasons to vote No, again, on Lisbon – far more than there are reasons to vote Yes. We shouldn’t be ashamed of saying that the best of them are only partly to do with the specificities of the treaty itself.

On the other hand, we should be careful about some of the debating points we adopt.

Anti-imperialists, peace campaigners and workers’ rights advocates on the No side have the best set of arguments, to be sure. The writings of Kieran Allen and Andy Storey, among others, are the gold standard and I wouldn’t presume to add to them. But a few folks on ‘our side’ – and with that phrase I don’t include the right-wingers who happen to support the same vote but are otherwise alien politically – are wandering down some political dark alleys.

We should not, for example, get hung up on a ‘No Means No’ kick, as though in putting the Lisbon question to another referendum the Government were behaving like a rapist. Given that many of us on the left would consider ourselves advocates of more direct democracy – and are heirs to a democratic tradition that has often advocated annual parliaments and frequent referenda – it does seem rather churlish for us to suggest that the people aren’t allowed to change their minds, as they eventually did on divorce. Admittedly a simple cry of “we told you already” has some popular, populist traction – we never, after all, get a re-run when we vote the way the elite wants us to first-time. But it’s unsustainable as a real argument.

Related Links:
Big Business Out to Buy a 'Yes' to Lisbon | Lisbon Treaty: Three Strikes, You’re Out | VOTE NO to Lisbon - Raft on the Liffey Launch | Irish Friends of Palestine Against Lisbon put their case to the public in Dublin's Grafton Street | Green Party U-Turn on a Democratic EU | The Lisbon Treaty and the Triumph of Technocracy | Debut of Irish Friends of Palestine Against Lisbon outside Dublin EU Parliament Offices | 13 Things the Lisbon Treaty Would Do | The Legal guarantees on Lisbon Treaty will not change treaty - a propaganda stunt to mislead voters | Dáil shouldn't have inferior Lisbon Treaty powers to German Parliament, controlling ministers | The Lisbon Treaty, Alan Shatter and the guys in hoods! | Lisbon Treaty News: German Constitutional Court delays Germany’s ratification of the Lisbon Treaty | No EU Guarantees Can Change Thrust Toward Militarisation in Lisbon Treaty | The Gurantees: Comment by Jens-Peter Bonde | Spoofing the Irish media and public with Lisbon “guarantees” that guarantee nothing | Supposed ‘hard fight’ to secure guarantees on Lisbon Treaty: a clever tactic to mislead says McKenna | Lisbon: Round Two - A bosses charter, with or without 'guarantees' | The Lisbon Assurances - A Closer Look

No to Lisbon Groups List can be found here.

The pro-Lisbon political parties do not need to raise funds for the 'Yes' to Lisbon campaign. Big business is directly funding their side of the debate. The announcement that Intel and Ryanair will spend hundreds of thousands of euro to try to achieve a Yes vote in the upcoming Lisbon Treaty represents an unconcealed attempt by big business to shape politics in its favour.

Ryanair alone says it plans on spending over half a million Euro advertising for a pro-Lisbon vote, together with Intel that means up to a million Euro for a 'Yes' by only two private corporations.

Related Links:
Lisbon Treaty: Three Strikes, You’re Out | VOTE NO to Lisbon - Raft on the Liffey Launch | Irish Friends of Palestine Against Lisbon put their case to the public in Dublin's Grafton Street | Green Party U-Turn on a Democratic EU | The Lisbon Treaty and the Triumph of Technocracy | Debut of Irish Friends of Palestine Against Lisbon outside Dublin EU Parliament Offices | 13 Things the Lisbon Treaty Would Do | The Legal guarantees on Lisbon Treaty will not change treaty - a propaganda stunt to mislead voters | Dáil shouldn't have inferior Lisbon Treaty powers to German Parliament, controlling ministers | The Lisbon Treaty, Alan Shatter and the guys in hoods! | Lisbon Treaty News: German Constitutional Court delays Germany’s ratification of the Lisbon Treaty | No EU Guarantees Can Change Thrust Toward Militarisation in Lisbon Treaty | The Gurantees: Comment by Jens-Peter Bonde | Spoofing the Irish media and public with Lisbon “guarantees” that guarantee nothing | Supposed ‘hard fight’ to secure guarantees on Lisbon Treaty: a clever tactic to mislead says McKenna | Lisbon: Round Two - A bosses charter, with or without 'guarantees' | The Lisbon Assurances - A Closer Look

Socialist Party's Website - SocialistParty.net | Other No to Lisbon Groups can be found here.