80% Of Irish People Do Not Understand Lisbon Treaty
April 28, 2008 (4 Responses)
A SURVEY released by the Referendum Commission today shows that - shockingly - approximately 80% of people surveyed do not yet understand what the Lisbon Treaty is about.
This is one of the most important treaties that Ireland has had to consider thus far in relation to European influence over our economic and military affairs, it’s due to go to a referendum in just under seven weeks… and yet most Irish people haven’t got a clue what it’s about yet.
It seems that just 5 per cent said they understood the treaty, while 15 per cent answered that they understood it to some extent. A total of 30 per cent did not know the name or subject of the referendum. I suspect, given recent polling on the topic, that the referendum is going to be one of the closest in living memory, considering the current difference between the Yes and No camps is only a few percentage points, and it’s pretty certain that this situation is only continue to change as the voting day looms ever closer.
It’s not exactly a surprise to me though that people are a bit slow catching on to the treaty given the incredibly confusing job the Governament has done so far in trying to communicate just why a “YES” vote is so important to them (apart from the embarrasment of course if the country tells them to ‘shove it’).
The “Vote No” campaigners are busy getting their side of the story out but there is still an overwhelming need for a simplification of all the key issues to be published, enabling the average joe and jane in the street the opportunity to understand the key items and changes under consideration in the treaty.
If you don’t know what it’s all about then please do lookup some of the following sites to get yourself informed:-
- Referendum Commission Website (www.refcom.ie)
- Irish Lisbon Treaty Website (www.lisbontreaty2008.ie/)
- Wikipedia Treaty of Lisbon Page (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Lisbon)
Don’t feel so bad, 110% of Americans (myself excluded, of course) don’t even know where Lisbon is.
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It is against basic common sense and against the sense of responsibility to sign any treaty or contract without fully knowing its contents and understanding its consequences. This is especially true in the case of making a decision regarding a new constitution, which will ultimately determine our and our children’s future, with implications affecting all the relevant aspects of our life.
(Note: most of the advocates of the treaty admit that they have NOT read the text.)
Save our freedom,
good women and men of ireland.
In god’s name vote NO to this anti-democratic EU treaty.
Don’t be fooled, your No vote is not against EU,
it is against a european military superstate with to little
democratic instruments to be controlled by the people.
Please think about your responsibility for anyone
of the 27 other nations which dont have the opportunity
to vote about their future.
i write this from germany, but we are not the only nation
that has been fooled into accepting the lisbon treaty
without voting.
Please people of ireland, do the right thing tomorrow.
Vote NO
God bless you ..