The leader of Fine Gael in the EU parliament, Seán Kelly MEP, today suggested in an article in the Sunday Independent, that Ireland should support the end of the veto for EU member states at European Council level.
This would mean the end of any meaningful national democracy, not just for Ireland, but for the whole of Europe. The direction of our nations would be decided by unelected bureaucrats in the EU commission. And our elections at national level would cease to have any meaning whatsoever.
Irish neutrality would die on the altar of "international obligations" and we would almost certainly be drawn into global conflicts that the EU felt suit their economic interests.
He stresses that this must be forced through quickly and without much scrutiny, so as to reduce the possibility of any country electing a leader on the populist right or left who might disagree with this course of action. This is nothing but disdain for national sovereignty and the democratic decisionmaking of ordinary citizens.
Mr. Kelly feels that the Irish population are so overwhelmingy pro- EU that none of this would matter to them. He cites EU funded Eurobarometer polling. If he is so sure that this is the case, he should be advocating a referendum to decide the matter.
I cannot believe the current state of our politicians who have so much disdain for democracy. They should hang their heads in shame.
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