RICARDO SEGURADO,
Sir, - Is it possible that the media and the Government have both misunderstood the concerns of swinging voters on the issue of the Nice referendum? Most EU citizens are familiar with a single or dual-chamber parliamentary democracy in which a majority party forms a government. Very few understand how the Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament work in relation to each other, or who has the last say in anything, never mind the under-reported deals and negotiations which lead to decisions at a European level.
This whole system needs a complete overhaul - an amazingly complicated and maybe impossible task, which has nothing to do with Nice. However, the decision of the Irish voters has been to draw the line at Nice. Responding to another No result (which seems likely) by re-drawing Nice into a new EU treaty, or the accession treaties, is sidestepping. Personally I am in favour of a European superstate (I'd trust a Brussels bureaucrat over nearly any Irish politician), and I voted Yes to Nice; but if it's put to me again, I'll be changing my vote. - Yours, etc.,
RICARDO SEGURADO,
Meadow Vale,
Deansgrange,
Co Dublin.