Madam, - I find it astonishing that EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy should resort to crude appeals to emotion rather than simply sticking to a logical presentation of his own position with regard to next year's European Union treaty referendum. He threatens that we will become "the laughing stock of Europe" should we vote No (The Irish Times, December 4th). He hopes thereby to elicit feelings of fear and shame and thus influence us in a non-rational way.
Perhaps this is not surprising, since he appears to hold the public's rationality in contempt anyway: he says that a No vote, despite being a democratic expression of the will of the people, would "defy common sense". This shows a total disregard for the democratic process.
Many people have perfectly rational reasons for fearing the further ceding of our sovereignty to Europe and the construction of a superstate with the potential to override the Oireachtas. We shouldn't allow McCreevy's attempts to frighten us into submission to obscure the seriousness of these concerns. - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL O'DRISCOLL,
Menloe House,
Blackrock,
Cork.