ARE WE out of our collective minds? We are not going to win our money on "the horses" if we say No to the Lisbon Treaty. We bought that nag in the last general election and, yet, here we go again. The latest Irish Times/TNS mrbi opinion poll suggests that we are set to reject the treaty in next Thursday's referendum. It is difficult to decipher why we would make such a short-sighted decision.
And yet there is a strange public mood out there that is anti-establishment, anti-authority and anti-politician at this time. There is a breakdown of trust between the political establishment and the electorate. There is a fear that we are being asked to vote for something that we cannot fully understand and they cannot fully explain. There is annoyance that the leadership of all the main parties is telling us what is good for us. There is a realisation that we are the only one of the 27 members to have a referendum because the other states contrived not to put the Lisbon Treaty to their peoples. And we are expected to carry the responsibility for the future of the peoples of all other states who have not been allowed to vote.
There are many reasons to vote No to the Lisbon Treaty. The chairman of the Referendum Commission, Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill, was embarrassed when he couldn't explain one provision the other day. Some of the main parties, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party, appear to be more interested in advancing their own personal images than advocating a Yes vote. The economy is on a downward spiral. Jobs are threatened. And we were never told about the horses last year. These are all serious matters but they don't address the merits of the Lisbon Treaty.
We would be wrong, so wrong, to use these irritating issues as a reason to vote No. In an environment where there is so much spin, counter-spin - indeed, downright lies betimes - we must trust our own better instincts to make the right judgment for our country, ourselves and our families in the longer term.
The treaty, for all its detail, is intended to fix and make more efficient the workings of the European Union and we remain, as a people, overwhelmingly committed to our membership. The Lisbon Treaty will give us a better Europe. Do not forget that the formation of the original European Economic Community is the biggest peace project of the 20th century. How many times has John Hume said that it was the template for the Northern Ireland settlement? Remember that our decision to join in 1973 was the most liberating action taken by this independent State setting us on the way to reversing the Act of Union. We moved out from the shadow of Britain for the first time and established our own identity. We took our place among the nations of the world with an influential voice.
At a time when food and fuel prices are increasing and the global economy is in recession, the outcome of this referendum will have a material impact on our individual lives. Now, more than ever, we must take a long-term rational view.