Latest posts
The Benelux strikes back against Blair
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EU ambassadors met today in Brussels to begin working on the details of how to implement the Lisbon treaty. Following Ireland’s resounding yes vote it seems almost everyone in Brussels thinks even that most immovable of objects, Czech president...
Ireland paves the way for Tony Blair?
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Well, polling day is finally upon us. Thank god because I’m not sure I could face writing another article about the intricacies of the Lisbon treaty. One contact in a political party in Ireland told me at 7pm tonight their private exit poll is...
Media Manipulation- Verhofstadt style
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A new Irish Times opinion poll published today suggests that the yes side are still ahead in the second Lisbon referendum campaign but that the no side have made up a little ground. Some 48 per cent of people are likely to vote yes, 33 per cent sa...
Will UKIP’s ‘racist’ leaflet turn voters off?
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Here is the leaflet that the Freedom and Democracy group, whose leader is UKIP MEP Nigel Farage, plans to post to every house in Ireland. It is titled ‘The Truth About The Lisbon Treaty’ and will arrive in people’s letterboxes between Sept...
Is Ganley back from the dead?
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He may be back you know. Declan Ganley, that is. The snappy dressing no to Lisbon campaigner, who made his name running a slick campaign against Lisbon in the first referendum, has given a lengthy interview to the Wall Street Journal. He rep...
Keeping our commissioner without Lisbon
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I’ve just arrived back from an EU foreign ministers meeting in Sweden where it was clear that everyone is getting very nervous about the second Lisbon treaty referendum. I interviewed Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt- president of the Eu...
Ireland’s wartime legacy and the EU
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Today is the 70th anniversary of the start of world war II and many EU leaders have gathered in Poland to commemorate the loss of 50 million lives. The war ultimately led to the creation of the EU as politicians sought a way to bind France and...
Is war with Iran inevitable?
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The G8 has finally ended and I’m sitting on an ATR 42- 500 Italian customs police plane, which is usually used to spot illegal immigrants crossing the Med to Italy from Africa, with President Barroso and his advisers flying back to Rome. It’s...
Embedded with Barroso
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I’m writing this post on a bus flanked by a police escort, which is speeding its way to the G8 meeting in the small Italian town of L’Aquila. This is the first group of eight leading economies (G8) meeting that I’ve covered and I’m lu...
Will McCreevy lead the no campaign?
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You have to hand it to Charlie, Ireland’s happy-go-lucky member of the European Commission. He’s certainly no shrinking violet when it comes to expressing his personal views on the Lisbon treaty. At his by-now regular Friday speech in Ireland...
Are Biffo and Brown trying to spin a yes?
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It’s a rare sight indeed: Brian Cowen offering a smile at an EU summit. Biffo has had an annus horribilis since becoming taoiseach. At his first EU summit last June he had to explain to his angry EU counterparts why the Irish public had rej...
In Ireland a woman’s place is in the home
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I’ve had my first look at the guarantees that are intended to meet the concerns of the Irish electorate and persuade them to back the Lisbon treaty this autumn. My first thought as I pore over the texts is that I’ve read them somewhere befo...
Should Barroso get the nod this week?
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It’s going to be a long week for the EU legal eagles and a horrible one for journalists. The agenda of the European Council is stuffed full of so many complex legal issues that by Friday afternoon my head will be spinning trying to decipher the...
EU elites delight at Libertas defeat
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2BYwcrkAk4&rel=0 Here is a short video clip I’ve been sent from election night at the European parliament. The man doing the talking is Wilfred Martens, president of the European People’s Party (EPP)- basic...
How can we persuade people to vote?
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I’ve just attended a post-election analysis in Brussels hosted by the European Policy Centre think tank where the big issue was the low turnout. Just 43 per cent of Europeans bothered to cast a vote with Slovakia again ranked bottom of the l...
Fringe parties may win but Libertas to lose big?
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In Ireland, Britain, the Netherlands and Latvia the governing parties have taken a hammering in the face of the economic crisis, according to early exit polls. Fianna Fail in Ireland and the Labour party in Britain have received their worst ev...
June 2009: Is fascism on the rise?
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Geert Wilders, a platinum blonde Dutch politician who wants to ban the Koran and the building of Mosques, has emerged as the first big winner in the elections. Exit polls show his Party for Freedom (PVV) has attracted between 15-17 per cent of the...
How Europe conquered the final frontier
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVHU1DZFkgc&rel=0 You have to hand it to the Belgians: they really do love Europe. With mounting fears that the elections will be marked by poor turnout and a resurgence of euroscepticism they are pulling out...
The nazi hunters pursuit of Libertas
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As if poor poll results are not enough bad news for Libertas now they have the Simon Wiesenthal Centre on their backs. The Jewish human rights group, which is famous for hunting down Nazi war criminals, has written to the EU’s Fundamental Rights...
What the elections mean for Lisbon
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I’m back in Ireland for a few days to get a view of how the European election campaign is going at home. An opinion poll commissioned by the European parliament this week forecast that turnout here at about 66 per cent would be higher than in a...
