poll: 70% reject Lisbon 2. EU finished in Ireland?

A new opinion poll shows that 70% of people do not want a rerun of the Lisbon Treaty. The poll also shows that if a new treaty was forced upon the electorate that it would end up being heavily defeated.

The poll was carried out by former staff members of the Catholic Hibernian magazine, who have now set up their own non-profit social affairs research organization Gael Poll. Famously the last Hibernian opinion poll which was published in the Irish Sun (June 4th) accurately predicted that the Lisbon Treaty would be defeated by a margin of 54 % for the No side versus 46% for Yes campaigners. On the day of the count -which took place nine days later- the actual result was 53.4% No and 46.6 % Yes. The uncanny poll prediction which was out by only a half a percent was the most accurate poll in the country.

Last week Gael Poll polled 501 respondents in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. The respondents were asked two straightforward questions:
Do you want another referendum on the Lisbon Treaty? A clear 57% said No as opposed to 23% who said Yes with 20% of people undecided. When pollsters discounted the don’t knows: an overwhelming 70% of people indicated that they did not want a rerun of the Lisbon Treaty, as opposed to 30% who did.

Wise Up Journal

People can quite clearly see the EU are trying to bully Ireland into accepting a treaty it doesn't want. Along with the fact the public are now thoroughly fed up with the present domestic administration (who happen also to be the ones pushing this treaty at them) and the crippling effect being in the eurozone is having on the Irish economy (Ireland is unable to determine its own financial policies and must put up with decisions made in the EU that are tailored primarily for the German/French economies) it's unlikely that this treaty will fare any better on its second run than its first.

When combined with the cost of living in the rip off republic the euro is damaging businesses in the border areas.


-----


The flight of shoppers across the Irish border claimed its first major victim yesterday when Superquinn announced it was closing its Dundalk store with the loss of 68 jobs -- and cutting a further 332 jobs in its other stores.

Superquinn blamed the closure of the Dundalk supermarket, the same town from which the Superquinn empire began in 1960, on the droves of shoppers going north to shop for cheaper groceries in Newry. "It breaks any retailer's heart to close a store, but recent developments in cross-border shopping have left us with no alternative. It is our hope to avoid any other closures as part of the programme," said Superquinn chairman Simon Burke.

Dundalk has been particularly hard hit by the fall in sterling and strengthening euro which saw thousands of shoppers bypass it in favour of Newry in the run-up to Christmas. While the main road into the Co Down town was gridlocked with motorists, shopping centres immediately south of the border were left empty.

Independent Senator Feargal Quinn who, along with his father Eamonn, founded the supermarket chain almost 50 years ago, and recently sold it for €450m, refused to comment last night.

Belfast Telegraph

-----

Buncrana's Mayor is calling on the British government to bring in the euro to help get Inishowen out of its economic hell.

He thinks the British government should now adopt the euro making life easier for Inishowen people, particularly those who work in the North and who have, effectively taken a 25 per cent wage cut as a result of the devastating exchange rate.

He said: "I have always felt the UK should bring in the euro, there is no question about it. In the long term interest of both Ireland and Northern Ireland there should be an equalization to stabilize the situation."

Derry Journal

A uniform and unified economic system across the whole island makes sense. Having one portion of the island administered by Brussels and the other by London is farcical and underlines the arguement nationalism has always grounded itself on - that Irish society is best understood and managed from within Ireland itself.

A few people have passed comment on the future of stirling and the british banking world generally, suggesting it is finished and time for the UK to join the eurozone. I however cant see how the eurozone has much more of a future, in Ireland at the very least. At least britain is only next door. Brussels is much further geographically and light years away in terms of how close and how aware of life in Ireland it is. Choosing between the two though is moot. Neither one is an option that will bring us out of economic and cultural chattelage. A single, natively-run system can be the only way forward.