Effects of the Irish vote (3)

I congratulate the people of Ireland for erecting a huge monument to democracy by taking their political elite to task and reminding them that they were voted into their positions to reflect the people's will.

It is a shame that our political elite disregarded what the Maltese people had to say regarding the Lisbon Treaty. There were no opinion polls, no vox-pops, let alone a referendum - only a unanimous approval by our Parliament after a few hours' debate. Malta ratified the treaty as if the future of every Maltese citizen and our Constitution wasn't affected by this decision.

France, Germany and Britain all said they would continue their efforts to have the treaty ratified by the rest of the EU states, even though it cannot come into force if a single member state rejects it. Citizens of every member state were told that joining the EU was only for economic purposes. But is it?

Jean Monnet, founding father of the EU wrote: "Europe's nations should be guided towards the superstate without their people understanding what is happening. This can be accomplished by successive steps, each disguised as having an economic purpose, but which will eventually and irreversibly lead to federation."

This is why the people of Ireland voted no and rejected the Lisbon Treaty. Thank you, Ireland!