Madam, - As I have only recently become eligible to vote, the Lisbon Treaty referendum was my first political contribution.
I was proud to participate in my country's decision-making, so it is understandable that I feel dismayed and disillusioned with the deplorable suggestion by Stephen Collins (Opinion, August 2nd) and by various contributors to your Letters page, such as Rev Joseph S.O'Leary (August 6th), that the Dáil should ratify the treaty regardless of the electorate's rejection.
A referendum is the purest form of democracy and the idea that any government should overturn a decision derived from such a process is very worrying (not to mention undemocratic). If the will of voters is superseded by some paternalistic move by the Government, this will set a dangerous precedent which less scrupulous politicians may exploit in the future. - Yours, etc,
FERGAL WALSH,
Clarinda Park East,
Dun Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Madam, - As a woman who campaigned for a Yes vote, I am waiting to hear a real voice of leadership from the sitting Government of Fianna Fáil, the Greens, the PDs and supporting independents. I do not believe it is the responsibility of Enda Kenny or Eamon Gilmore to lead us out of the quagmire caused by the botched referendum.
All Government TDs have to spell out to the electorate the true consequence of the No vote. Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin will have to do better for Ireland this time. Unlike Archbishop John Charles McQuaid, he must stop returning from Europe and reassuring the people that "nothing has changed".
There are consequences for the future of this neutral country outside the EU, consequences that have been ignored because the reality might be too hard for FF to spell out to the Irish people, especially while in Government with the peace-loving Greens.
There are consequences for the farming community if we stay out of the European arena of negotiation, a lonely presence outside the Commission doors at Brussels, with no representation at any future WTO talks.
There are consequences for the economy, if we have to leave the euro area as a consequence of another No vote; visions of Zimbabwean inflation rates in the Irish economy emerge.
There are consequences for our employment prospects and educational standards if we choose to turn our backs on the EU.
Do those who voted No, or those who chose to lead from the sidelines - such as my old trade union, Siptu - believe that we Irish have the ability to strike out on our own as the littlest British Isle, seeking friends among those who sneeringly put down the European project.
Let Sinn Féin and Libertas explain how their advice to the voters that renegotiation would really be possible is their blackest lie; the only certainty now is that our partners in Europe continue to vote for the Lisbon Treaty.
Humbly, I ask Taoiseach Brian Cowen to direct his Ministers, TDs and senators to take the treaty with them on holiday. Read it. And having read it by September, tease out a solution that will lead Ireland back into the heart of Europe where we do best. - Yours, etc,
Cllr NIAMH BHREATHNACH,
Anglesea Avenue,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Madam, - Your paper has a long tradition of supporting accountable and democratic government in this country and throughout the world. It was therefore with profound disappointment that I read your Political Editor, Stephen Collins, advocate that the government ignore and overrule the democratic will of the people and ratify the Lisbon Treaty. This unconstitutional action would open the door to tyranny.
Last Wednesday your Editorial marked the passing of one of the greatest writers of our age, Alexander Solzhenitsyn. As he revealed, the road to the gulags of the former Soviet Union was paved by once-democratically elected politicians who grabbed power from the people after the October revolution. They too thought they knew what was best for their people and their country. The result was the brutal tyranny of Stalin and the needless deaths and suffering of millions of innocent Russians in the labour camps so well described by Solzhenitsyn.
Fortunately for lovers of freedom, justice and literature, the writer lived to tell his beautifully woven, yet horrific stories. Millions of his countrymen were not so lucky, including the greatest Russian poet since Pushkin, Osip Mandelstam, who died of starvation in a transit camp on his way to Siberia, not yet 50 years of age, because he wrote a poem describing Stalin as the brutal monster he was.
We are privileged in Ireland to have one of the most democratic constitutions in the world, devolving power to the people. We demonstrated this power when we voted No to the undemocratic Lisbon Treaty and spoke for nearly 500 million Europeans who were not consulted by their respective governments. Many of those states were once members of the Soviet Union and thus were victims of Stalin's mass-murder machine and the dreadful gulags.
Stephen Collins should be mindful that many distinguished writers actively supported or remained silent about the tyranny that was prevalent in the Soviet system and many them of the wrote for a paper that called itself Pravda (Truth) while people of the calibre of Mandelstam were murdered or, like Solzhenitsyn, were banished to the gulags.
Your political editor's journalistic skills would be better employed encouraging the Government to respect the referendum decision of the Irish people. One undemocratic step can lead to another even greater undemocratic step, and tyranny should have no apologists. - Yours, etc,
RICHARD GREENE,
Cóir,
Capel Street,
Dublin 1.
Madam, - Ewan Duffy (August 5th) says that, given the choice between Britain and the EU, he would choose to be a client state of Britain. Has Mr Duffy completely forgotten our country's history and the lack of economic independence that we experienced before entering the EU?
Before we joined the EU, Ireland was a country completely dependent on Britain. Now, our economy has been transformed and we are involved in all decisions made at a European level.Since we joined the EU in 1973, the average income in Ireland has increased from 60 per cent of the EU average to over 140 per cent.
Is Mr Duffy suggesting that we go back to living under the shadow of Britain? To suggest that being a client state of Britain would be "the lesser of two evils" is both a shocking and incredible statement. I have heard it all now. - Yours, etc,
EOIN RYAN MEP,
European Parliament Offices,
Dublin 2.