Majority in dark over EU treaty

The majority of BCFE students have no view or don’t know what the Lisbon Treaty is, a poll by the Ballyfermot Post shows.

Students were asked: “If the upcoming referendum on the Lisbon Treaty (which follows the rejected EU constitution) was held tomorrow would you vote.”  The survey shows that 64 percent of students chose “Don’t know / no view”.

The ‘No’ side had 25 percent and the remaining 11 percent said ‘Yes’. The statistics could be viewed as startling considering the treaty is soon to be put to the Irish people. 

The treaty is a follow-up to the rejected EU Constitution; however, Ireland is set to be the only country to put the ratification in the hands of the people. Opinion polls in France have shown a majority against Lisbon, but as with most all of the 26 other EU states, the country will have no referendum on the issue.
Our poll is strikingly different to the results of a Sunday Business Post / Red C of general voters, it found that 46 percent would choose ‘Yes’, 23 percent ‘No’, and 31 percent who ‘don’t know’.

The Treaty was signed by the heads of state of the 27 Member States in Lisbon on 13 December 2007 and is set to provide the EU with “modern institutions and optimised working methods to tackle both efficiently and effectively today's challenges in today’s world.”

Last week, the Cabinet approved the referendum bill, which included a clause which would guarantee a Constitutional bar on the Irish defence forces joining any future EU army. The proposal are an attempt to replace all EU treaties to date, it includes a smaller European Commission, with fewer commissioners than there are member states.

A date for the referendum has yet to be set, but Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has indicated it will be held in June. On the No side, Ahern said: “There’s a load of loo-las of every kind and shape drifting around the country talking the same kind of nonsense”.

- Liam Cahill

ALSO SEE:
Comment: Democracy, the real loser with Lisbon

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