Letter to the editor: Confused about the Lisbon treaty

I'm sick of the shite that passes for debate on the Lisbon treaty.

Sir,

I need some help on the Lisbon treaty. Apparently we have to vote yes
or foreign businesses will stop investing in our country. They
wouldn't do that if there weren't good business reasons.

So could someone please tell me what exactly in the Lisbon treaty will
make Ireland more attractive to foreign investment but will not make
other EU countries equally more attractive?

If your answer involves phrases like "Ireland at the heart of Europe"
please keep it to yourself, I've read enough of that already,

Published a couple of days later.

Letter to the editor: Lisbon Treaty and Microsoft

The shite from the "yes" campaign continues. Kinda funny putting forward the opinion of the MD of Microsoft just as we find out they're going to be fined 1.5 bn by the EU.

Sir,

Dr Derek Flynn's letter of Feb 26th, urges us to vote "yes" to Lisbon.
Like almost all other "yes" letters, it uses scare-mongering instead
of debating the contents of the treaty (the only exception so far
being Gay Mitchell's recent).

In addition to the usual line that rejecting this treaty is rejecting
Europe, Dr Flynn tells us that Paul Rellis, the president of the
American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland and managing director of
Microsoft Ireland, is urging a "yes" vote.

Coincidentally, on the same day, news broke that the EU are on the
verge of fining Microsoft 1.5 billion euro for non-compliance with
their rulings regarding Microsoft's abuse of its monopoly.

I'm sure Mr Rellis and his employer have quite strong opinions on how
they would like the EU to change but their interests do not coincide
with mine or the average citizen. It's possible that the treaty is
good for all of us but, if anything, the fact that an abusive
monopolist wants this treaty to be ratified makes me even less
inclined to vote "yes"!

Why can't Dr Flynn and the others explain in simple language what
changes this treaty makes and what benefits come from these changes?

Letter to the editor: Lisbon Treaty

The standard of "debate" from the "yes" campaign is abysmal. Because they have no argument?

Sir,

Cllr Seamus Murray (letters Feb 18th) claims that the "no" campaign
"sells the vision of Ireland versus the rest of the EU or that we can
operate outside the European Union.".

I've looked at Sinn Fein's and Libertas' websites and I can't find any
campaign for us to leave the EU. So I'm not sure who he's talking
about.

To suggest that a "no" vote is a vote against Europe or somehow going
to result in Ireland being ostracised is scare-mongering and simply
dishonest. The French and the Dutch are still at the core of Europe
despite rejecting version one of this text.

I hear the same thing from all sides of the "yes" campaign. It makes
me quite angry to be subjected to this nonsense and makes me want to
vote "no" regardless of the contents of the treaty.

If you have good arguments, let's hear them and please don't be vague,
include quotes from the treaty to back them up - something the "no"
campaign seem quite willing to do,

This was published in full the next day.