The hour before midnight (10/6/08)

So this is it. In a few hours time, at midnight, the traditional media blackout of any referendum coverage will kick in, and a strange silence will descend where until now all has been noise and wrangling. Tomorrow, the broadcast media will be full of anything other than Lisbon – not a headline, not a soundbite will allude to the treaty signed by 27 European heads of state in December 2007, which to an unquantified number of Irish voters remains as obscure as theoretical physics.
The moratorium will continue until the moment the polling stations close on Thursday night. Only the lampposts emblazoned with posters still shout ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ to any passersby who care to look. Tonight, only the foreign journalists in Dublin are busy in their hotel rooms filing stories about Lisbon for the world press, while their Irish colleagues scrabble among silly season fare – economic musings, new arrivals at the zoo… The moratorium is meant to allow a final period of reflection for voters, a break from the barrage of non-stop media coverage and canvassers and campaigns, but it also marks a bizarre period of waiting and absence and tension.
At an impressive lineout today of Fine Gael leaders past and present, Enda Kenny heralded what he described as ‘the moment of truth’ for Ireland, expressed confidence that the arguments put forward by the ‘No’ side had been ‘demolished’, and said the treaty would be carried. A smiling Dr Garrett Fitzgerald agreed that ‘We’ll just about make it,’ although he criticised the government’s late start to its referendum campaign. Taoiseach Brian Cowen also insisted that the fight was won. And as an observer, I’m inclined to agree. For better or for worse, the ‘No’ side has crumbled over the last few days into the disparate collection of somewhat dissonant voices it always was. Yesterday’s brandishing by Libertas frontman Declan Ganley of three airline tickets, to send the Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour leaders back to Brussels so they could renegotiate a better deal, only served to point up the unity of the opposition he faced. The motley crew of Sinn Féin, the Socialists, the various anti-war alliances, the smaller trade unions and Youth Defence is unlikely to match up to the combined weight of the political establishment in Ireland and Europe-wide.
Last week’s shock Irish Times poll which gave a five point lead to the ‘No’ campaign so scared the government and the pro-treaty parties that they drew a deep breath and blew for all they were worth, bellowing their message through every available airwave and column inch, singing Lisbon in every line, and warning of the shameful isolation and ignominy that would follow a ‘No’ vote.
This will have had a powerful effect on the remaining undecided voters – 17 per cent of the electorate, according to last Friday’s poll. More so than other nations, Irish people want to be liked. ‘What do you think of Ireland?’ is the question most asked of tourists to this country. For all our boom time brashness, we remain needy of praise, with the national identity of an insecure post-colonial adolescent. The thought of being frozen out is terrifying. That the French and Dutch rejected the EU constitution as recently as 2005 and remain at the heart of the European project provides little comfort in the face of such an icy future – as Garret Fitzgerald said today ‘It’s far easier to worry people than to reassure them.’ He was speaking about the concerns put forward by the ‘No’ side, but he could just as easily have been talking about the pro-treaty campaign.
It remains for the ordinary citizens of this country, in the 24 hours left before polling day, to look squarely at what the Lisbon Treaty is proposing and block out the nightmarish scenarios being propounded by both sides. There are so many summaries available now you don’t need to go near the consolidated version of the text. Read through the main points. Are the changes being put forward significant? Could they affect you? Are they for the greater good of every European citizen, or do they advance a federalist EU machine? Are they just too bloody complicated? Do you actually care?
Vote, don’t vote, spoil your vote – it will all tell a tale. Three million Irish people will decide the future direction of the EU this week on behalf of 486 million European citizens, and Brussels waits with bated breath to hear what you will say. Roll on the results, and as Charlie McCreevey said, may the best team win.

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Back on the mainland
• Sleeping My Way To Saturday
• Midnight Hours and Late Night Cafe!
• Last Laps for Automakers