Sir, - On June 7th, we are being asked to vote in three unrelated referendums on the same day. Even the Referendum Commission has complained that not enough time is being allocated to consider the issues properly. This is hardly democracy in action!
My concerns about the Treaty of Nice are:
This is not primarily about enlargement - this was largely covered by the Amsterdam Treaty.
It provides for the division of the EU into first-and second-class members.
It shifts power to the big states from the small.
It centralises more lawmaking in Brussels by abolishing the national veto in some 30 areas. This reduces democracy.
Ireland's neutral status will be completely compromised.
It militarises the EU in a fundamentally new way by inserting provision for the 60,000 soldier Rapid Reaction Force - this is joining NATO by the back door.
It provides for the trebling of votes of the big states while the votes of the smaller states only double.
EU enlargement is much more about opening the East to the West rather than the West to the East: "We want your markets, not your people".
I would urge your readers to vote NO to the Treaty of Nice. I support a YES vote on the other two issues. - Yours, etc., Cllr.
Finian McGrath, Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9.