MAURICE O'CONNELL,
Sir, - Further to your excellent Editorial of March 18th, and contrary to to the views of Michael Thompson (Letters, March 15th) John Gormley TD and Patricia McKenna MEP, having a second referendum on the Nice Treaty is not about ignoring or overruling the wishes of "the Irish people".
In the first place, 65 per cent of "the Irish people" (by which presumably is meant the electorate) did not vote on the Nice Treaty. We know that a very large proportion of those who did not vote or voted No did so because they did not know enough about the treaty, did not understand it, or simply did not think it sufficiently important. This is not my (possibly biased) personal opinion but the finding of a detailed survey carried out in the autumn at the request of the European Commission.
Who is trying to stop "the Irish people" expressing their wishes after 18 months of reflection and solid, factual information?" The answer to that question might not be to the liking of those who say: "No second chance." -
MAURICE O'CONNELL,
Yours etc.,
Wood Dale View,
Ballycullen,
Dublin 24.