Sir, - The unrelenting efforts of a small political, diplomatic and military elite to smuggle Ireland into the NATO-led Partnership for Peace without any political or public debate and subsequent referendum is disturbing, further exacerbated by the volte face of Fianna Fail on this issue since the last election.
The episode raises more fundamental questions about the nature of democracy and governance in this State. We claim to be both a democracy and a republic where ultimately we the citizens are sovereign, confirmed by Article 6 of Bunreacht na hEireann, which states: "All powers of government, legislative, executive and judicial, derive, under God, from the people, whose right it is to designate the rulers of the State and, in final appeal, to decide all questions of national policy, according to the requirements of the common good." Therefore how can any Government decide such a monumental question of national policy without any public debate and without referring it to us for decision in a referendum?
It can do so because Bunreacht na hEireann, while strong on rhetoric about "we the people", is weak on provisions to give effect to those aspirations. The problem lies in the fact that while theoretically the people are sovereign, there are no provisions in the Constitution enabling us to exercise that sovereignty and determine national policy between elections. At present we have the right to determine only those matters which the Government deems appropriate in various referendums. Citizens can, of course, campaign for a matter to be put before the people, but the decision on holding a referendum still lies with the Government. This is contrary to democratic and republican ideals.
Therefore we urgently need an amendment to our Constitution permitting the holding of referendums initiated on the petition of a proportion of the electorate, perhaps 5 per cent. In such circumstances the Government would be required to hold a referendum on PFP or any other issue if a sizeable proportion of the citizens so desire.
This would not be a new or radical departure for this State; indeed, such a provision was contained in the Constitution of the Free State which dated from 1922 until 1937 when it was replaced by Bunreacht na hEireann. - Yours, etc.,
James Doorley Hayes, Navan, Co Meath