Sir, – Before we all get confused, could we clarify which treaty is going to be voted on in a referendum? Ireland is expected to ratify two treaties in the coming months. One is the Treaty on Stability, Co-ordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union. This is the fiscal compact. There is another, the Treaty Establishing the European Stability Mechanism. This is the so-called firewall, to which Ireland is expected to contribute. Neither are EU treaties.
In the Taoiseach’s statement to the Dáil he said he wanted “to inform the House that that the Irish people will be asked for their authorisation, in a referendum, to ratify the European Stability Treaty”. He then added, helpfully, that he meant the fiscal compact.
Many commentators, including Gavin Barrett in The Irish Times, have copied the Taoiseach’s wording and referred to the European Stability Treaty. This may lead to some confusion as to which Treaty we are talking about. We should either give the treaties their full title, or else just say Fiscal Compact Treaty and ESM Treaty to distinguish between the two. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – For me, a decision to vote Yes in the referendum will hinge on the willingness of the EU and ECB to assume responsibility for the cost of bailing out Anglo Irish Bank. I appreciate that if Ireland votes No, we will be denied access to the restrictive European Stability Mechanism in the highly likely event that a second bailout is needed. To address this, the country should turn directly to the more realistic and enlightened IMF and, with its support, impose tough new conditions on the promissory notes and get on with the task of sorting out the self-inflicted domestic deficit. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Richard Nolan (March 1st)says he will be voting No in the referendum on the fiscal treaty “in protest at the Government’s abandonment of its pre-election promises to ‘burn’ the Anglo Irish Bank bondholders”.
Could Mr Nolan please show us where either of the Government parties ever promised that they would “burn” the Anglo bondholders? The Fine Gael election manifesto promised to seek a reduction in the burden of these bonds on the Irish taxpayer “as part of a European-wide framework” through negotiation with the ECB and IMF. The Labour Party manifesto favoured burden-sharing with the Anglo bondholders as “part of a renegotiated deal”.
Neither of the Government parties promised to unilaterally “burn” the bondholders as Mr Nolan claims, or as lazy and ill-informed figures in the worlds of politics and the media repeatedly insist. The most serious problem facing the Government is not that it has broken its election promises, rather that a large section of the country seems to recall it having made an entirely different set of promises in the first place.
The Programme for Government promises a “slow but deliberate renewal of our country”, and yet many people seem to think that Fine Gael and Labour promised some kind of overnight economic recovery.
If this is indicative of the sort of self-delusion still exists among the public at large, then what hope is there for us in the difficult years that lie ahead? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I see both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste are again playing the “jobs” cards in relation to an EU referendum. They might first like to answer where the promised jobs for voting Yes to Nice and Lisbon are.
By my reckoning we have a lot fewer jobs in Ireland following the Yes votes for these referendums. Surely in voting for an austerity treaty the likelihood is even fewer jobs again. I think I’ll play safe and vote No! – Yours, etc,