Posted on 06/13/2008 5:17:43 AM PDT by IrishMike
Ireland vote rejects EU treaty
Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has said substantial referendum returns show that Ireland has rejected the European Union reform treaty.
Electoral officials expect to confirm the result later.
Mr Ahern based his conclusion on tallies of votes produced nationally by election observers as well as early official returns.
They showed the "no" camp ahead in the vast majority of Ireland's 43 electoral constituencies, while pro-treaty voters were clearly ahead in only a few.
The expected result will send shock waves throughout the EU.
Ireland was the only member to subject the Lisbon Treaty to a popular vote, while other countries have been ratifying the painstakingly negotiated pact only through their national governments.
Mr Ahern said "We're in uncharted waters."
(Excerpt) Read more at ukpress.google.com ...
YES!!! Well done, Ireland. The Irish bow down to no one.
“Sweet love of our Faith and our Country! — forever unfading they last,
Like ivy-leaves twining together round desolate wrecks of the Past,
Round abbeys whose gables have fallen, — round castles whose turrets are gone,
Round towers that stand up majestic, in valleys deserted, alone,
Round ruins of churches whose steeples oft echoed the voice of the bell,
But totter’d and crumbl’d in tempests, and rang their own funeral-knell,
And mingled their dust with the valleys’ — an emblem of patriots brave,
Who fall on the breast of their country, and find in its bosom a grave!
God’s blessing be ever upon thee, my beautiful isle far away!
May tempests ne’er shatter thy beauty, may time never bring thee decay!
But ever be noble, though fallen, and ever be lovely, though lone
If Mother of Sorrows yet smiling midst tears for her sons who are gone!
O! tyrants can never destroy thee! O! sorrows can never deface
The hope that has liv’d through the ages, and gladdened the suffering race;
Nor exile and happiness banish remembrance of days that have fled.
No! no! — by the Past and its sorrows! Ah! no, by the graves of the dead!
My children we fled from the famine — the evil that tyranny made,
And exiles o’er seas and the prairies in search of some happiness stray’d.
We found it afar from Old Ireland; — but often I think, with a sigh,
Far better to live in “the Old Land,” — far better in Erin to die!
To live on a little contented, — to manfully struggle awhile,
To go to the grave of my fathers, and sleep in the Sanctified Isle.
Far sweeter to follow old customs, and live like our fathers of old,
Than wander a stranger midst peoples, and die in the struggle for gold.”
This is an excerpt from a wonderful poem by
THE IRISH ON THE PRAIRIES
AND OTHER POEMS
By: REV. THOS. AMBROSE BUTLER
NEW YORK: D. & J. SADLIER & CO., 31 BARCLAY STREET, 1874.
http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/dogtown/church/butler-prairies.html
Congratulations!
If the British dictators allowed a vote it would be rejected in the UK as well. No one but the political class wants or needs it (power).
It’s Friday the 13th!? Yikes.
You know what happened to me at 1:45 AM? The power went out.
Cause voters in numerous countries rejected this the last time they tried it.
Two words: Deo gratias! (and whatever the Irish equivalent is). :-)
That's a beautiful quote. Congratulations, Ireland!
“It’s standard EU procedure to keep asking the same question until the voters finally give the right answer.” —John O’Sullivan at NRO.
Meet the new boss...same as the old boss..., from one of my all-time favorite songs, "Won't Get Fooled Again".
McCain's already tried to fool us once on the border: "We will secure the borders first", but he's been galloping away from that since winning the nomination.
Ireland ping! (For anyone who hasn’t gloated enough already ... :-).
Halt Lisbon Treaty process - Hague
39 minutes ago
Shadow foreign secretary William Hague has said the Government should now halt the ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty after it was thrown out by voters in Ireland.
“Alone in Europe they have had the chance to make their views known. If democracy in the EU is to mean anything their decision must be respected,” he said.
I love you Ireland! Not only did you save your own sovereignty but also the Independence of my Poland!
This is one of the most beautiful days of my life! GOD BLESS IRELAND!!!
Irish voters dealt a stunning blow to the European Union’s grand reform plans Friday by rejecting a new treaty and plunging the bloc into a new crisis.
The Lisbon Treaty, designed to replace the EU constitution torpedoed by French and Dutch voters three years ago, was rejected by 53.4 percent to 46.6 percent in a referendum, according to official figures.
Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty has again highlighted the gulf between the grand visions of Europe’s political elites and the everyday needs of its citizens.
Hooray for the unruly Irish... and F*** the EU!
Yes!
Yessss!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.