The Irish: Still Happy

Good news for anyone who believes that the pinnacle of future human achievement isn't further immersion in the stifling, bloated Euroepean Union. The Irish have shown that, despite the protestations of some, they are happy with their referendum and don't need to vote again:

Fifty-four per cent of those polled said they were happy with the result, while 34 per cent were unhappy, and 11 per cent were undecided.

And why would they want to vote again? Nothing has changed, another vote would be a waste of time. In fact, this expectation that Ireland would vote again because the leaders of the EU didn't like the result is staggering. It is the politics of Robert Mugabe - if the vote doesn't go their way, then everyone concerned can damn well vote again until they get the right result. Can you imagine the outcry if the Tories had said in 1997 "yep, we know you've voted, but you need to vote again as you've voted for the wrong people?"

At a time when the international zeitgeist is towards increasing national and regional autonomy the European Union should be making their case for a vast, bureacratic monolith as the future for the member states. This pig headed approach of "keep voting until you get it right" is not good enough. It is indicative of the arrogance of the EU that they believe such an approach is ok. And it is the same arrogance that led to the Irish Referendum result. The sooner the EU realises that in democracies you have to make a case before you can expect a vote, the better.