Hail to the Irish

Yesterday I drank my first pint of Guinness in 30 years. Just a gesture to say thank you to Ireland for voting down the EU constitution [sic].

Unfortunately thinking it will make any difference is about as fanciful as my having shared that pint with Caprice.

Now I await the usual weaseling out by the Euro-imperialists. We shall hear that the Irish didn't understand the 'treaty'; or that they voted for the wrong reasons; or not enough of them voted. And that they'd better do it again and get it right next time.

In fact the people of Ireland have demonstrated that they know what most British people now know, that for all the talk of streamlining the decision-making process, that this was yet another sprint down the road to the United States of Europe.

The Irish do not wish to become a mere province of a foreign empire. They had enough of that with us.

For all the talk of scaremongering about abortion and taxation I think that the recent floating of the idea of a European army was what put a lot of Irishmen off the treaty. Quite apart from the fact that they cherish their neutrality what more tangible proof is that there we are heading towards a European state.

I'm listening to Jim Murphy, our 'Europe Minister', who's smarming about 'respecting' the Irish decision and that nation's 'sovereignty', before going on to say that the process continues and that the Irish government will have to come to Europe with its proposals on 'the way forward'.

Gordon Brown plans to blunder on on with our own Parliamentary ratification process. What's the point if we are 'respecting' Ireland's decision? I often hear that Brown is not keen on the EU. That's surprises me. He's such an arrogant bully, that he's a natural for it.