Madam, – As somebody from Donegal North East I fully support the referendum results in my constituency. Voters in Donegal clearly understood this was the vote to end all votes, and that a Yes result was a step closer to an EU superpower.
What else could be expected after 12 months of intimidation and propaganda from the very people who created the current economic mess? A “Vote Yes for Europe” meant turning a blind eye once again. Our “democratic vote” was quickly dismissed last time. We’ve now given up the right to complain.
Shame on our Government, shame on the EU power-hungry cronies. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Patrick O’Byrne has evidently found himself in an Irish catch-22 situation (October 6th). He queries whether there should be a referendum on granting independence to Donegal. As (presumably) a Yes voter, Mr Byrne should realise that under his newly chosen Constitution he no longer has the right to determine such matters by internal referendum. Perhaps he should address his concerns to his new president-in-waiting, Tony Blair, the son of a Donegal woman.
Madam, – Barry Walsh (October 7) quite correctly points to the provisions that were included in the Free State Constitution for voters’ initiative on legislative proposals. As a matter of historical fact, however, it was not Fianna Fáil which removed this feature in the course of its 1937 Constitution, but Cumann na nGaedheal (predecessors of Fine Gael) who deleted it in June 1928, because of Fianna Fáil’s attempt to use the initiative to remove the Oath of Allegiance. – Yours, etc,