A straw poll of those who voted No or abstained on Lisbon shows a second referendum is unlikely to change their minds, writes Ruaghán MacCormaic
KIERAN PHILLIPS, DUBLIN
Marketing consultant
I voted Yes in the first Nice referendum. When it was defeated and the government re-ran it, I voted No. Perhaps I am a bit quaint but I believe the will of the people is sovereign, whether I agree with it or not. Their new figleaf is a piece of research which suggests the electorate, or at least the part that voted no, did not understand what they were voting on and should perhaps vote again. If Barack Obama is defeated in November, is anyone seriously suggesting that he be permitted to conduct research, perhaps discovering that many people didn't vote for him on racial grounds, and demand a re-run of the presidential election? Hardly. In a real democracy, the people have the right even to be wrong. If they dare to re-run this referendum, I will be forced not only to vote No, but to canvass for a No vote.
EDWIN BRENNAN, GALWAY
Student
The Lisbon referendum was the first time I voted. I tried to follow the campaign, but it was confusing. At the start I was Yes, then I went to No and back to Yes. I finally decided No in the last couple of days. I don't know what clinched it - I think the lack of information that was provided. The Government and the other parties were just forcing people to vote Yes. I felt: why am I voting Yes? I'm pro-European and I think they've done a lot of great work but I didn't know the reasons behind this. To come along and make people vote again, it doesn't make sense to me. But it depends what the changes were. And if people were asked to vote, they really need to be told what the issues are. If we vote Yes, what happens?
ETTIE McCORMACK, CO CARLOW
Retiree
With the other EU referendums, I voted Yes all the way through. This time, I felt that as a small island on the outskirts of Europe, we needed a commissioner. The second issue was the fishermen's protest, which was on at the time. Most of the fish we get are from abroad, and with so much water around Ireland I think it's a shame we can't purchase it at a reasonable cost. Cod is dearer than prime steak - it doesn't make any sense. At the active retirement group, we had a lady down from the EU office in Dublin only two weeks before the referendum. We didn't like the way she was pushing it. In the other treaties we were given for and against. But this time it was all for. There was a rumour going around - now I don't know whether it's true or not - that each TD was getting something like €30,000 each if they pushed for a Yes vote. It was rife in the neighbourhood. We felt, you know, there's no smoke without fire. I think the EU is fantastic up to now, but we did go into it as a trading organisation. It's lovely to see our products when we go to other countries. But I think this was a step too far.
EOIN DILLON, DUBLIN
Musician
There's historical precedents - we stopped the Romans coming here, didn't we? They never made it! I'm all in favour of the EU, that's the funny thing. I think it's fantastic. I travel a lot, so you see at first hand its benefits. I remember border controls at the Belgian border, and now that's all gone. The currency is fantastic. I think it's great as an economic thing, but as a political one? I don't want someone like Sarkozy or David Miliband speaking on my behalf on the world stage. The Palestinian issue is a big bane for me - how they treat them and favour the Israelis. I also perceive racism at play when it comes to their dealings with Turkey. They seem to want to make the EU into a US. I think they can think differently. I think I would vote the same way if there was another referendum today. People have said no. Think up another picture.
CIARÁN MURRAY, DUBLIN
Works in community radio
On Lisbon I was chopping and changing a bit, and sometimes the more I saw of the No side, the less inclined I was to vote No. I wasn't convinced of Declan Ganley's arguments. I would have voted for a more social democratic Europe, and I felt he was putting the argument for a more Progressive Democrat Europe. It's the Boston-Berlin argument - I would have voted to be closer to Berlin. The broad sense of the treaty - about having a more smoothly run union - I could understand and was for that. I would be pro-EU. I wouldn't be entirely against another referendum, if they introduced certain changes. It's a bit like horse-trading - they say "will you take this?" and you say "no, I'm not taking that". So they go away and have another look at it. But if it was just the same thing, I'm pretty certain I'd just vote the same way again.
ANN GOLDEN, BALLYHEIGUE, CO KERRY
Gardener
I decided not to vote. One problem I had was the literature was difficult to understand. The choice on the ballot paper should have been clear - it shouldn't have needed an explanatory leaflet to go with it, and the explanatory leaflet wasn't clear either.
I think the EU does an awful lot of good, but it has serious flaws - it's cumbersome, it concentrates too much on the economy when I think it should concentrate more on people's rights. There was no great campaign, apart from slapping a few posters on poles. I got about halfway through the leaflet and my brain just flicked off. Whether I would reconsider would depend on what choices I was given, how they were worded and how they were explained.
FRANCIS CONDREN, CO DUBLIN
Community worker
No one knew what the Lisbon treaty was all about. Not one TD could explain. I didn't know what I was voting for, so I voted No. Look at the way the country is - there's an awful lot of unemployment now, construction work is gone to hell, there's a recession on now completely. I think if we had voted Yes to this, we'd be in a worse state. This is one of the most expensive countries in Europe to live in. It's disgraceful.
I got the booklet through the door, but I couldn't understand what it meant. It wasn't plain English. And then the US air force is landing at Shannon. We don't know who's on the planes, what arms they're carrying back and forth. It's just crazy.
If there was another referendum, I'd still vote No.
DICK WHITE, NEW ROSS, CO WEXFORD
Works at Gorey Chamber of Commerce
I felt I knew enough about it, but nobody on the Yes side made a sufficiently cogent argument for me to vote Yes. And you know that old saying: you can only say yes once but you can say no many times. I didn't like the threats - if you voted No the world was going to end. Funnily enough, after we voted No, Europe still kept going. The world kept turning. The bureaucrats kept getting paid, the farmers kept getting paid. I would find the way Europe is going anti-democratic. I don't like the idea of handing over powers to faceless, nameless bureaucrats over in Brussels or Strasbourg.
But I'm quite amenable to Europe and I'm quite happy that we're in Europe. I've no difficulty having another vote. I would like to see a more democratic process being put in place, and allow people to vote in the context of a wider discussion with all the facts on the table, and to allow people to make their democratic decision without threats.
GERTRUDE COTTER, CORK
Director of a non-government organisation
I read the Lisbon treaty and had about 10 specific issues. One of the things that I disliked was I didn't think qualified majority voting should apply to certain areas.
I was 50/50 but I did feel that the Yes side didn't really bother to try to persuade me and even more than that I felt a deep sense of alienation from the political system. Overall, for me the issues related to some kind of democratic deficit that is something I feel, more than specific legal aspects of the treaty I can point to.
What should the government do? I have no idea really. Definitely they have to respect the vote and in fairness I don't think they are being patronising after the event. There is a tendency to tell us No people that we didn't understand the issues and were hoodwinked by Sinn Féin. I wasn't. I read the treaty. I'd say: don't go back to the electorate with the treaty but go back with this list of solutions and ask "if we do this and add these in a protocol to the treaty, will you then vote Yes?".