http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/stateoftheunion Just another irishtimes.com weblog Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:28:18 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en   EU ambassadors met today in Brussels to begin working on the details of how to implement the Lisbon treaty. Following Ireland’s resounding yes vote it seems almost everyone in Brussels thinks even that most immovable of objects, Czech president Vaclav Klaus, can’t stop the eventual ratification of the treaty.  The most ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/stateoftheunion/2009/10/06/the-benelux-strikes-back-against-blair/   Well, polling day is finally upon us. Thank god because I’m not sure I could face writing another article about the intricacies of the Lisbon treaty. One contact in a political party in Ireland told me at 7pm tonight their private exit poll is for a 60 - 40 yes vote. I ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/stateoftheunion/2009/10/02/ireland-paves-the-way-for-tony-blair/   A new Irish Times opinion poll published today suggests that the yes side are still ahead in the second Lisbon referendum campaign but that the no side have made up a little ground. Some 48 per cent of people are likely to vote yes, 33 per cent say they will ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/stateoftheunion/2009/09/25/media-manipulation-verhofstadt-style/ Here is the leaflet that the Freedom and Democracy group, whose leader is UKIP MEP Nigel Farage, plans to post to every house in Ireland.  It is titled ‘The Truth About The Lisbon Treaty’ and will arrive in people’s letterboxes between September 17th and 21st. Reading over the six pages it is clear that ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/stateoftheunion/2009/09/16/will-ukips-racist-leaflet-turn-voters-off/   He may be back you know. Declan Ganley, that is.   The snappy dressing no to Lisbon campaigner, who made his name running a slick campaign against Lisbon in the first referendum, has given a lengthy interview to the Wall Street Journal.  He repeats many of the arguments that he made during his ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/stateoftheunion/2009/09/11/is-ganley-back-from-the-dead/   I’ve just arrived back from an EU foreign ministers meeting in Sweden where it was clear that everyone is getting very nervous about the second Lisbon treaty referendum. I interviewed Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt- president of the European Council- on the fringes of the meeting where he admitted that the ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/stateoftheunion/2009/09/06/keeping-our-commissioner-without-lisbon/   Today is the 70th anniversary of the start of world war II and many EU leaders have gathered in Poland to commemorate the loss of 50 million lives.   The war ultimately led to the creation of the EU as politicians sought a way to bind France and Germany together to prevent ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/stateoftheunion/2009/09/01/irelands-wartime-legacy-and-the-eu/   The G8 has finally ended and I’m sitting on an ATR 42- 500 Italian customs police plane, which is usually used to spot illegal immigrants crossing the Med to Italy from Africa, with President Barroso and his advisers flying back to Rome. It’s been a whirlwind three days of briefings, ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/stateoftheunion/2009/07/11/is-war-with-iran-inevitable/    I’m writing this post on a bus flanked by a police escort, which is speeding its way to the G8 meeting in the small Italian town of L’Aquila.  This is the first group of eight leading economies (G8) meeting that I’ve covered and I’m lucky to have been embedded with European Commission ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/stateoftheunion/2009/07/09/embedded-with-barroso/   You have to hand it to Charlie, Ireland’s happy-go-lucky member of the European Commission. He’s certainly no shrinking violet when it comes to expressing his personal views on the Lisbon treaty. At his by-now regular Friday speech in Ireland today (which enables him to have a long weekend at home) he ... http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/stateoftheunion/2009/06/26/will-mccreevy-lead-the-no-campaign/