Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Navigation
Primary Navigation
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular
Secondary Navigation
Africa
Europe
Latin America
Middle East
North America
Search
Search:
Ireland takes high-stakes gamble with EU poll re-run
AFP - Sunday, December 14
DUBLIN (AFP) - - Irish punters voted with their wallets this weekend, strongly tipping the Yes campaign in an EU referendum re-run confirmed Friday -- but analysts warned the new poll remains a huge political gamble.
About 100,000 euros (132,000 dollars) in bets surged in to bookmakers Paddy Power forecasting a Yes vote, hours after Prime Minister Brian Cowen announced a second ballot next year on the Lisbon Treaty at a European Union summit.
"We initially sat on the fence in the odds we announced but as soon as we saw the money coming in -- some bets were as high as 5,000 euros -- we slashed the price of a Yes vote from 5-6 to 4-6 and 4-7," Paddy Power junior told AFP.
"It has been very much one-way traffic so far with people believing the treaty will be passed second time around. We've hardly taken a bean on the No vote. But it is early days."
Ireland sent shockwaves through the 27-nation bloc by rejecting the treaty by 53 percent in June, but under a deal hammered out by EU leaders on Friday Cowen agreed to re-run the vote.
It is deja vu for Ireland: in 2001 voters rejected the EU's Nice Treaty, but the result was overturned the following year in a second referendum when clarifying declarations were given by other member states.
This time the assurances focus on four issues which swayed Ireland's rejection of Lisbon, according to polls -- EU interference in Dublin's military neutrality, abortion laws, taxation and retaining a Brussels commissioner.
Cowen stressed the importance of the guarantees Friday, saying in Brussels that only "on condition of our being able to satisfactorily put guarantees in place, I .. would be prepared to return to the public" in a second ballot.
With those reassurances Dublin hopes for a voter U-turn similar to that over Nice. Cowen, expected to call a new poll by next October, said there was "clear evidence the European Union is ready to respond" to Irish concerns.
But the influential pro-Lisbon Irish Times described it as an "enormous challenge.
"The fundamental problem about the second Lisbon referendum for slow Irish learners is that there is obviously no guarantee it will be carried," the paper's political editor Stephen Collins wrote.
"While the rapid deterioration of the economy over the past six months may serve as a wake-up call to the electorate about how dangerous isolation can be, it could equally serve to sour the mood even further.
"The problem about a referendum next October is that by the time it comes around, an already deeply unpopular government may have lost the final shreds of its authority," Collins wrote.
Eamon Gilmore, leader of the main Labour opposition which supported the treaty along with Cowen's ruling Fianna Fail party in the first referendum, described the retention of Ireland's commissioner as "a significant change."
But the hostility of treaty opponents doesn't appear to have lessened.
The Libertas group, led by wealthy business Declan Ganley that played a key role in the June No campaign, is unimpressed by the summit package and plans to field anti-Lisbon candidates across the EU in next year's European elections.
"The Irish government and the powerful elite in Brussels are showing utter contempt for the democratic decision of the Irish people in rejecting the Lisbon Treaty. Not one sentence will change in a "new version," Ganley said.
Wealthy businessman Ulick McEvaddy, a prominent No campaigner, says his opposition had "absolutely not softened" and he will be campaigning against it again.
McEvaddy, a member of the pro-EU Fine Gael opposition party, said his main concern was the independence of the Irish government to act in the interests of the Irish people.
"The larger nations will act in their own interests at most times and, when it suits them, they will act in the interests of the rest of Europe. How often do we have to vote on treaties before people will say that No is No?"
Email Story
IM Story
Printable View
Blog This
Recommend this article
Average (0 votes)
Sign in to recommend this article »
Most Recommended Stories »
Related Articles: World
Somali president sacks prime ministerAFP - 8 minutes ago
Queen Elizabeth II reins in extravagance as credit crunch gripsAFP - 1 hour 33 minutes ago
Rolling paper giant sues over NYC firm's T-shirtsAP - 1 hour 51 minutes ago
Crews fight cold, ice to return power to NortheastAP - 1 hour 52 minutes ago
Castro visits Venezuela on 1st trip abroad as prezAP - 1 hour 53 minutes ago
Enlarge Photo
Ireland's Prime Minister Brian Cowen speaks at a press conference after a working session of a second day of a European Council summit at the headquarters of the European Council on December 12.
Most Popular – World
Viewed
US carmakers mull options as White House vows aid
Actress Jennifer Aniston appears naked in GQ magazine
Russia crowned Miss World 2008 in African event
Rich and powerful top Madoff's fraud victims: report
Fortis bank, saved from collapse, again on shaky ground
View Complete List »
Search:
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular