Farmer tries to block 2nd Lisbon Vote
The High Court is to hear the case of a Co Tipperary farmer who is seeking to block the second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, due to be held on October 2nd.
John Gerard Burke claims the Lisbon vote of the 12 June 2008 should be declared as passed and that the proposed second vote be declared an act in breach of the constitution.
It’s clear that some people don’t see the difference between Lisbon 1 and Lisbon 2.
We have legal guarantees now. They’ve secured our commissioner, clarified our positions on abortion and neutrality and it’s made it clear that Lisbon has no influence on our tax laws.
I can understand that the text of the treaty is not altered however the guarantees will be considered under any further legal interpretation of the treaty and so we find ourselves with a very different referendum than the last time.
The economic landscape has also changed fundamentally and it’s clear that we need Lisbon to retain favourability for Foreign Direct Investment and to remain eligible for economic support by the EU.
Lisbon 2 is hugely different to Lisbon 1 so I think this case will be wrapped up fairly quickly.