Madam, - Your Editorial of November 17th says, in relation to the recent Irish Times/TNSmrbi poll on attitudes to the Lisbon Treaty, that "the economic costs and political consequences of the decision to reject the treaty last June are being steadily brought home".
Perhaps you could elaborate on this point as I can find no evidence that our current economic woes or political standing in the world have been affected in any tangible way by the No vote from last June. I note that Taoiseach Brian Cowen has on more than one occasion attempted to make this link between the No vote and the current economic crisis but exactly how the vote is supposed to have exacerbated the current global meltdown of free-market capitalism - or, indeed, the mind-boggling mismanagement of our own domestic economic affairs - has never been adequately explained.
Care to take a stab at it? - Yours, etc,
Madam, - How is it that within a few months Declan Ganley has gone from being an unknown businessman to being a leading spokesperson on European political affairs?
Libertas emerged out of nowhere during the Lisbon Treaty referendum. We know almost nothing about its funding, business interests, leader or membership. Its unknown wealth has bought it a significant amount of media coverage and more worryingly, a large platform to speak on behalf of the Irish people. It is undemocratic and a worrying precedent. The Irish people voted No to a confusing proposal, not Yes to Declan Ganley.
We cannot allow Libertas to stamp a conservative ideological blueprint on Ireland's future in Europe, particularly in our current economic climate. It is undemocratic and an unsavoury threat to the European social project. - Yours, etc,
Madam, - With regard to Derek Scally's report of November 14th on German speculation about Ireland "being forced out of the EU", it is obvious that committed EU members have run out of patience with Ireland's dalliance. In any club there are agreed rules and as far as the EU club is concerned the rules are set out in the Lisbon Treaty, which has already been rejected by the Irish people.
Those who find the Lisbon Treaty unacceptable have to face the fact that they cannot have their cake and eat it. They must either stay in the EU on the same terms as other members or get out. It is as simple as that.
It is totally unrealistic to expect EU member-states to allow renegotiation of the treaty. As things stand our EU partners may well invoke the "Norwegian option" - ie, associate member status for Ireland. That might not be a total disaster as long as Ireland continued to enjoy unrestricted access to EU markets.
Since Ireland no longer shares the vision of a single European economic and political entity, we should do the decent thing and opt out of the club and stop making ourselves the laughing stock of Europe. - Yours, etc,
Madam, - Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin was incensed at Czech President Vaclav Klaus's "lack of courtesy" in meeting Libertas' Declan Ganley and voicing anti-Lisbon Treaty opinions while on a State visit. The government has been rumbling discontentedly about "being marginalised in Europe" (read: not welcome in the halls of power among its peers) and hinting as usual, that multinationals might reconsider their bases here.
I thought multinationals were attracted mainly by our low rate of corporate tax, which both France and Germany - busy trying to ram Lisbon down both our throats and those of their own populations - have been threatening to interfere with if possible. And surely it's far more discourteous when a government gives two fingers to its own electors by making it clear it intends by hook or by crook to override their democratic decision so it can ingratiate itself in Brussels. - Yours, etc,
Madam, - An article headed "Ganley's dinner party was a meeting of minds" in your edition of November 13th stated in the last paragraph that a number of journalists sympathetic to the Libertas cause were present at the dinner, including Constantin Gurdgiev.
Although a columnist with Business & Financemagazine, Mr Gurdgiev attended the Libertas dinner in honour of Czech President Vaclav Klaus in a personal capacity and not as a representative of the magazine.
Business & Financesupported the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. We consistently pointed out in the run-up to the June 12th referendum that many of the claims made by Mr Ganley were groundless and that a rejection of the treaty would have economic consequences for this country.
This is a position that we continue to hold. - Yours, etc,