Ireland, after “yes”

The result of the referendum in Ireland to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon is being hearalded as a landslide victory in favour of a Yes vote. Two thirds of the votes cast went to Yes and one third to no. 1.2 million said Yes and 594,000 said No. In one Irish constituency which has not passed a referendum for twenty years and in which over 64% rejected Lisbon on the first time round, 56% were in favour on Friday last. The vote represents a massive swing to the Yes side in almost all constitutencies including those who delivered some of the highest No votes last yearJose Manuel Barrosso, President of the European Commission said “Thank you, Ireland. It’s a great day for Ireland and for Euope. I want to congratulate the Irish people on reaching their overwhelminng decision after long and careful deliberation”.Carl Bildt, Foreign Minister, Sweden which currently holds the EU had the following to say “It is an important victory for Ireland and for Europe. The EU finally can push the button for the better europe coperation that the Lisbon treaty will give us”.There is no doubt that for some Irish voters the Yes vote was seen as a fillip to help the country out of the ashes of its current economic nightmare. A Statement of the Standing Committee of the Irish Bishops’ Conference prior to the second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, entitled Values Matter, pointed out that “The Lisbon Treaty is of the greatest importance, not only for us here in Ireland but also for the future shape of the European project”. The Irish Bishops made it clear that a Catholic can “in good conscience, vote YES or NO”. They urged all Christians to consider carefully the contents of the Treaty and to vote with the interest of the whole community in mind. They stressed that “the European Union is not just a Common Market; it must be a community of values: Values matter”.Bishop Noel Treanor, Representative of the Irish Bishops’ Conference to COMECE in his Opening presentation to the Joint Committee on European Affairs argued cogently to Irish parliamentarians for the participation of all Christians in the democratic processes of the European Community as follows: “Whether it is the influence of secular ideology, cultural forces which undermine a consistent ethic of life, or concerns about the status of marriage and the family, the ideal of participation invites Christians to engage fully with the representative and democratic institutions available to them at both national and EU level. As Pope Benedict XVI has said (Comece, 24 March 2007), Christians need to ‘be actively present in the public debate on a European level, knowing that this discussion is now an integral part of the national debate’. We need to promote the dialogue of reason and faith in the life of the EU and its institutions. Citizens of religious faith need to secure and use the opportunities provided to Churches and faith based organisations in Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty to secure their rightful place in the dialogue about Europe and its values. This Article provides an invaluable and unprecedented opportunity for Churches and faith communities by recognising for the first time in the primary law of the EU the existing status of Churches at a national level, their ‘identity and specific contribution’ to society and by committing the European Union to ‘maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue’ with them”.It is in this spirit that the Catholic Church will now assess the outcome of the referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon.