[irish_links]

"...Bertie Ahern rammed the Nice Treaty down the throats of the Irish Electorate (I know, I was there....)..."

Slane, you seem to be a reasonable chap. Perhaps you can reason with your good friend.

Perhaps you will remind him that Fianna Fail was a lukewarm supporter of Nice at best, and advocated passage principally, if not solely, on the basis of the need to have a Yes vote to maintain the flow of investment capital and agricultural subsidies to the RoI from the EU. If my memory serves me (I admit to not having followed this too closely), Ahern and FF negotiated some changes to the treaty to make it more palatable to Irish voters.

Be that as it may. It is unquestionable that Fine Gael and Labor were wildly enthusiastic about the treaty. Why? Because they viewed it as a way to undermine free market/low tax policies in the RoI and to weaken the moral underpinning of Irish law as regards the sanctity of life, the primacy of the family, and the definition of marriage and any other aspect of Irish life and culture that does not conform to the politically correct notions of the secularists in the Hague. One can pound one's spoon on the high chair tray and scream about "Bertiebots' all you want, but a vote against FF is a vote for FG/Labor. Pick your poison, my friends.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

I must be invisible. You insult me on this thread and you can't take it back?? I only reacted badly to you because you verbally attacked me unprovoked!!!!

Why did Bertie The Traitor ignore the will of the people by forcing another referendum down our throats??

but a vote against FF is a vote for FG/Labor

What's the alternative??

A vote for FF is a vote for SF/IRA!!! I think I'd rather anything else!!

[Irish_Thatcherite]

BTW, 'Labor' is spelled 'Labour' over here.