Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-12-16-Speech-2-235"
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"en.20081216.31.2-235"2
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"Mr President, the Irish ‘no’ to Lisbon was never just an Irish issue: it needed to be dealt with as a European issue, and that is what has happened.
One of the responsibilities of any politician is to find solutions. The Irish Government listened to the concerns of the Irish people and, in partnership with their European colleagues, has drawn up a number of legal guarantees that will address the core concerns of Irish citizens.
Subject to satisfactory conclusions, the Irish Government will run a second referendum, and that is the essence of democracy: politicians working to produce a solution and then asking the people for their consent.
However, I have a very strong word of warning: we must not, again, underestimate the forces at play here. We must pay very careful attention to those who are trying to influence the outcome and those who are funding part of the ‘no’ campaign. We must fully understand that some on the ‘no’ side, who profess to be pro-European, want to see an unravelling of the EU and its institutions. Ireland was and will be a battleground for the heart and soul of Europe. That is what is at stake – nothing less – and it is worth all our cooperation, all our commitment and all our efforts.
To those, like Nigel Farage, who lecture us on democracy and others who say that the people of Europe, given a chance in a direct vote, would say ‘no’ to Lisbon, I want to say: you have neglected to check the facts and figures. The results from five direct votes – four on the Constitution and one on Lisbon – have yielded 27 million EU citizens voting ‘yes’ and 23 million voting ‘no’, so the majority of EU citizens who have voted directly have voted ‘yes’.
Finally, even though Mr Sarkozy has left, I want to thank him for his energy, his commitment to the EU and his efforts to find solutions to difficult problems."@en1
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