irish government propaganda posters above
1. The European Union has already created massive pockets of unemployment, with countries such as Spain – who have ratified Lisbon – suffering with unemployment rates of 18%. Why should Ireland sign up to a failing European Union?
2. About 450,000 people are unemployed, crushed by cuts, taxes, mortgage payments, on top of public bank-bail-outs and yet, the politicians who brought this upon Ireland are also asking for trust over the Lisbon treaty.
3. MEPs claim up to €1,000,000 in expenses each term, while massive job losses continue on an everyday basis.
4. Ireland remains a full member of the EU without the Lisbon treaty, and is in fact economically and politically better off without the treaty.
5. If Ireland votes No, she will continue to have access to Europe’s single market – the Lisbon treaty is concerned more with intensifying European government, using a constitutional document, which will crush trade, jobs and industry in Ireland .
6. Foreign investment has actually increased since Ireland voted No last year.
7. Under the Lisbon treaty, the EU can levy taxes on Ireland for the first time.
8. 150,000 Irish jobs, at least, are under threat through direct employment in multinational companies. Since Lisbon will interfere in taxation and the low corporate tax rate, those multinationals will simply leave for lands with lower corporate tax rates.
9. Lisbon will not aid the recession – to the contrary, it will make it worse.
10. The Lisbon treaty allows big business to import cheap labour and undercut Irish workers, in much the same way as it has done in labour disputes in the UK and the Nordic countries.
