Should Ireland say yes or no in its EU treaty referendum? | Conor Slowey and Vincent Browne | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

The Irish referendum explained (The Guardian)

Should Ireland say yes or no in its EU treaty referendum? | Conor Slowey and Vincent Browne | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

I must admit I have mixed feelings about the Irish referendum. While I think there is a valid argument about loss of sovereignty (which I support as part of further political convergence which I think is a sensible goal in the modern age, even if it takes longer than that!) was always going to involve some sacrifices on that front (more worrying is the lack of democratic process across the EU as a whole with respect to such measures). A more appealing 'No' point to me would be the argument that a fixed 3% cap might be the wrong thing in when stimulus needed, and risk entrenching neoliberal policies. For me problem is not the deficit countries run up in bad times, but how they wasted their surpluses in good times! Of course when country is booming very hard for politicians to push the long view that that is exactly the time when need to control finances, but neither it is  imp[ossible, since that is largely what the germans managed to do with their wage suppression and efforts to boost competiveness, without it must be pointed, sacrificing the principles of their social system. It is illustrative that the countries which are most affected by the crisis (Portugal, Greece, Ireland) are often those in which salaries rose most dramatically in the last decade.

However, rejecting the treaty might lead to real problems. The bottom line is really the bottom line, and Ireland is bust and needs financial support, and like it or not it has to extricate itself from the mess it finds itself in by whatever means possible, however unpalatable. I am very wary of the austerity agenda, because I believe they disporportionately affect the most vulnerable, while sparing the most culpable, but there is a general hope rising that the worst of this may be tempered even within the EU rescue mechanism, a mechanism which is really Ireland's only hope (exit of the Euro and devaluation is probably less of an option given Ireland's reliance on multinationals, and their reliance on Ireland as a way to launder profits).  And it is a very valid point that loss of power by Irish governments is not necessarily a bad thing, given how incompetent that have been with that power.

So overall I would favour No in principle, but unfortunately Yes in practice. Yes seems to be the only way out, given the game as it is. But I am also convinced that a lot of the problems come from governments and the EU being blinded by the rules of the (market's) game, without realising they have some power to change it, and some creative and innovative move is needed. But as long as the game stays the same, then the likes of Ireland probably need to abide by its rules and strategies, since they could lose, even if they don't play.