Lisbon Treaty faces rejection as No vote doubles in latest poll

Irish Times ^ | 6/6/08 | STEPHEN COLLINS

[Dawnsblood]

THE LISBON Treaty could face a shock rejection with the No side now in the lead, according to the findings of the latest Irish Times /TNS mrbi poll.

It will take an unprecedented swing in the last week of the campaign for the treaty to be carried.

The poll shows the number of people intending to vote No has almost doubled to 35 per cent (up 17 points) since the last poll three weeks ago, while the number of the Yes side has declined to 30 per cent (down 5 points).

The number of undecided voters is still a significant 28 per cent (down 12 points) while 7 per cent won't vote.

The massive increase by the No vote since the last poll has mainly come through gains among undecided voters but, even more ominously for the Yes side, it has lost some support to the No camp.

While the final outcome is still in the hands of undecided voters, the clear momentum is now with the No campaign and it will take a dramatic shift in public attitudes over the next few days for the Yes side to win.

The swing to the No camp has not been prompted by domestic considerations, with just 5 per cent of those opposed to the treaty saying they are influenced by a desire to protest against the Government.

The reason most often cited by No voters is that they don't know what they are voting for or they don't understand the treaty - with 30 per cent of No voters listing this as the main reason for their decision.

The poll was conducted last Tuesday and Wednesday among a representative sample of 1,000 voters in face-to-face interviews at 100 sampling points in all 43 constituencies.

[fuzzy dunlop]

Good - here’s hoping the Irish finally drive a stake through the heart of a constitution that just refuses to obey the will of the majority.

[mojito]

The Lisbon Treaty is a bureaucratic coup. It would be ironic if the Irish, who struggled so long to be free of British rule, allowed themselves to be conquered anew by bureaucrats from Belgium.

I hope the Irish people have more sense and more self-respect.

[Enchante]

Good news - if Irish voters defeat this socialist garbage it will be

“HOW THE IRISH SAVED CIVILIZATION - PART II”

Unfortunately we have seen that any defeat by the voters is merely a temporary obstacle for socialist bureaucrats, who just go on tweaking their documents and changing the decision-making venue until they get their way.

[Uriah_lost]

Wasn’t there a book about “How the Irish saved the World”?

[Uriah_lost]

Thanks...
That’s it!

[<1/1,000,000th%]

What is the Lisbon Treaty?

[ArmstedFragg]

The reason most often cited by No voters is that they don't know what they are voting for

Any chance we could import a bunch of those folks?

[devere]

Perhaps a new chapter will be needed for Thomas Cahill’s book “How the Irish Saved Civilization”.

[Calvin Locke]

Won't work.

From my experience, the imperial judiciary lets the proponents of tyranny rewrite the question so that the typical person's "NO" vote against some scheme will actually be a vote "YES".

When I lived in MA, Ralph Nader's shake down acolytes filed a suit against a ballot initiative so that it was reworded from the petition to the ballot to appear as the opposite.

Basically, UMass was charging PIRG fees/"dues" to students. The initiative was to prevent UMass from doing so.

The sleazy tactics of the Naderites prevailed, iirc.

[devere]

“What is the Lisbon Treaty?”

A subterfuge to pass the previously rejected European constitution and create “The United States of Europe”. Only the Irish people will get to vote on the treaty, which must be approved by all member states. So it’s no exaggeration to say that the fate of Europe will be decided by the Irish.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Thanks.

Since I’m too lazy to look it up.