PES Manifesto

Ireland Decides

Publié vendredi 13 juin 2008 à 08h52
par Desmond O'Toole (vu 535 fois et 1 commentaires)

Well the polls have closed and the ballot boxes are now safely stored away until they are opened at 09h00 (10h00 CET) on Friday morning. As I predicted, a lot of the discussion in the media this evening has been on how many people turned out to vote. If you remember I said that the general view is that a turnout below 40% would suggest a NO vote, while a turnout above 45% would indicate a YES vote. Well, the national broadcaster, RTÉ, is reporting turnout in the region 40-45%, so I'm afraid I cannot offer even an educated guess as to how the Irish people have voted in this referendum! I will be attending the count in Dublin and we are expecting initial results to be available by lunchtime and a formal announcement of the result by about 17h00 (18h00 CET).

One possible indicator of the result is the view of Irish bookmakers. They are offering better odds on the YES side winning and as everyone knows, bookmakers don't like to lose money. It would not be the first time that Irish bookmakers knew more than Irish politicians and journalists about how the people have voted. However, all of this is just idle speculation. We will know on Friday afternoon whether Lisbon will proceed smoothly to ratification across the EU or whether there will be a crisis for the French Presidency of the EU in Brussels.

Whichever way the result turns out there will be important lessons for us all to learn from the Irish referendum. The most important of these lessons is that the people can never be ignored. Attacks by Kouchner, Cohn-Bendit and others on Irish democracy were very badly received in Ireland. Citizens do not like to feel that they are being threatened and whatever decision the Irish people have made on Lisbon the result of that vote must be responded to with understanding and respect. Unless we can convince the citizens of Europe in their homes, in their neighbourhoods and in their workplaces that we listen to them and that we speak for them then the further integration of our beautiful continent and its peoples will never have their support.

But I think that we understand this in the PES/PSE. There was one moment very early in the campaign when this realisation struck me. Our President, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen MEP, came to Ireland in April to help launch the PES/PSE policy on new safeguards for public services in Europe. The photograph accompanying this blog was taken at that meeting. During the press conference an elderly party member asked what the EU was going to do to solve the housing crisis in Dublin. Instead of telling this man that the EU has nothing to do with housing policy, which is of course the case, Poul told the story of his own childhood growing up in Esbjerg when life was tough for his family and for many others. He spoke sincerely about how important having a home is and how socialists and social democrats understand this and have a proud record in housing our people. He said that even though the EU did not have formal competence in housing policy it did not mean that this issue could be ignored or that it was not important. By his words Poul showed that he listened to the real concerns of people and that he was an effective advocate for their needs and aspirations.

This is the sort of leadership that Europe needs. A leadership which listens to the people and which can articulate the people's concerns and aspirations. If this type of leadership is shown in the production of our manifesto for the European Elections in 2009 then we will have demonstrated the most effective response to whatever the Irish people have decided on Lisbon.

I have really enjoyed writing this blog during this important week and I hope that I have presented a useful insight into the politics of the referendum in Ireland. Slán tamail!

Tags: blogueur de la semaine, citoyens, démocratie, traîté, UE