From The Wall Street Journal:
Irish Voters Give Big 'Yes' to EU Reform
By CHARLES FORELLE and QUENTIN FOTTRELL
DUBLIN -- Irish voters appear to have approved the European Union's Lisbon Treaty in a substantial shift of sentiment, early results from the country's referendum indicate.
The count of Friday's ballot wasn't finished by mid-afternoon Saturday, but official results, which were 35% complete, gave the yes side a 67% to 33% edge, with high support across the country. Irish government leaders, who strongly supported the treaty, were celebrating.
"I'm delighted for the country and it looks like a convincing win for Ireland," foreign minister Micheál Martin told state broadcaster RTÉ..
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen told a packed press conference on the steps government buildings the referendum was carried "decisively." He thanked help from the civic organizations and opposition parties, credited the EU protocols clarifying Irish neutrality and maintaining its antiabortion laws, safeguarded independence on taxation and the right to keep its own European commissioner.
Ireland's finance minister, Brian Lenihan, said that the dramatic swing to a "yes" vote will be a "first step" in Ireland's economic recovery. "We are in a very difficult place and that's precisely why people voted 'yes,'" he told RTÉ.
"We need Europe's support at present," said Garret FitzGerald, who was Ireland's prime minister in the 1980s and who had come to the cavernous hall in south Dublin Saturday morning where ballots from the city were being counted. He pointed out that the European Central Bank is providing substantial liquidity to Ireland's beleaguered banking system. "Don't kick them in the teeth," he said. "Europe is enormously important to us."
The Irish government also received guarantees that Lisbon wouldn't mean Ireland loses sovereignty over controversial matters like abortion and military neutrality.
When a nation loses control over its banking system and currency, much of the damage is done.
Now the Irish government needs "guarantees" to retain control over ethical and moral issues. Will these guarantees be honored?
I have my doubts.
An ancient proverb states:
"The borrower becomes the lender's slave" (Proverbs 22:7 NASB)
In accepting liquidity from the ECB, Ireland has made a deal with many string attached. Big government always wants greater control over the lives of its subjects. In their desperation, the Irish may soon regret the path they have chosen.
Concept for the 5 circles based on Del Tackett's "The Truth Project"
A healthy society as shown above has a balance of the five components of the social spheres.
In an unhealthy or perverse society, one sphere dominates and oppresses or even crushes some or all of the other spheres. Promises are made to protect or "guarantee" civil rights, but when The State becomes dominant as history shows us in the example of the Soviet Union, personal rights and quickly lost. One wonders if an expanded Euro zone will lead down this same path?
Irish Voters Give Big 'Yes' to EU Reform
By CHARLES FORELLE and QUENTIN FOTTRELL
DUBLIN -- Irish voters appear to have approved the European Union's Lisbon Treaty in a substantial shift of sentiment, early results from the country's referendum indicate.
The count of Friday's ballot wasn't finished by mid-afternoon Saturday, but official results, which were 35% complete, gave the yes side a 67% to 33% edge, with high support across the country. Irish government leaders, who strongly supported the treaty, were celebrating.
"I'm delighted for the country and it looks like a convincing win for Ireland," foreign minister Micheál Martin told state broadcaster RTÉ..
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen told a packed press conference on the steps government buildings the referendum was carried "decisively." He thanked help from the civic organizations and opposition parties, credited the EU protocols clarifying Irish neutrality and maintaining its antiabortion laws, safeguarded independence on taxation and the right to keep its own European commissioner.
Ireland's finance minister, Brian Lenihan, said that the dramatic swing to a "yes" vote will be a "first step" in Ireland's economic recovery. "We are in a very difficult place and that's precisely why people voted 'yes,'" he told RTÉ.
"We need Europe's support at present," said Garret FitzGerald, who was Ireland's prime minister in the 1980s and who had come to the cavernous hall in south Dublin Saturday morning where ballots from the city were being counted. He pointed out that the European Central Bank is providing substantial liquidity to Ireland's beleaguered banking system. "Don't kick them in the teeth," he said. "Europe is enormously important to us."
The Irish government also received guarantees that Lisbon wouldn't mean Ireland loses sovereignty over controversial matters like abortion and military neutrality.
Comments:
When a nation loses control over its banking system and currency, much of the damage is done.
Now the Irish government needs "guarantees" to retain control over ethical and moral issues. Will these guarantees be honored?
I have my doubts.
An ancient proverb states:
"The borrower becomes the lender's slave" (Proverbs 22:7 NASB)
In accepting liquidity from the ECB, Ireland has made a deal with many string attached. Big government always wants greater control over the lives of its subjects. In their desperation, the Irish may soon regret the path they have chosen.
Concept for the 5 circles based on Del Tackett's "The Truth Project"
A healthy society as shown above has a balance of the five components of the social spheres.
In an unhealthy or perverse society, one sphere dominates and oppresses or even crushes some or all of the other spheres. Promises are made to protect or "guarantee" civil rights, but when The State becomes dominant as history shows us in the example of the Soviet Union, personal rights and quickly lost. One wonders if an expanded Euro zone will lead down this same path?
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