The 2% Treaty
by Meadbh Gallagher
Yesterday the Taoiseach announced that those of us
south of the border with a vote get to vote on the EU's
Amsterdam Treaty on 22 May next. Oh joy.
d how we love it. According to European Commission
figures, some 80% of us think the EU is a good thing,
while only 3% of us think it's bad for us.
d lucky we are to be having a referendum. Lucky
because of the late Raymond Crotty, who ignored the
peeved protests of the government in 1987 and took the
court case that led to the Supreme Court decision
giving us the right to referendums on these things.
Lucky too because it has the face of democracy, and
notwithstanding US planes filled with US soldiers
stopping off to refuel tanks and tummies at Shannon
airport on the way to the Gulf, a referendum shows that
we're no servants to the big powers. Oh no.
But you know, we don't even realise our luck. We're
almost exclusive members of the tiny two - that's the
2% of the peoples of the European Union who are
actually going to be asked in referendums if they
approve of this Amsterdam Treaty.
Bad luck to the Six Counties - you're not going to be
asked. Bad luck too to the people of England, Scotland,
Wales, France and Germany, to mention but a few. But
there's consolation for you: the governments embarked
on this new Treaty so that the Union and its
institutions would be ``brought closer to the citizens
of the Member States''. That's right.
d this is the Treaty that the pro-EU European
Movement call ``A People's Treaty''.
So you see we're so lucky and we're not even aware of
it. We're the people who'll be rubber-stamping a treaty
which leads to a common defence policy for the EU
powers and which ridicules our sacred `neutrality' and
we're not even talking about it. We'll be members of
that exclusive club that includes the Council of
Ministers who actually get to have a say on the thing.
And we can rest assured that no matter what way we vote
on 22 May, it won't make a difference.
Oh bliss. We can carry on regardless. This 2% thing has
a lot to offer.
The 2% Unionist population of the United Kingdom have
known it for years. Now we're being taught it again in
an EU vote. We're slow learners on this democracy
thing, aren't we?
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