Sir, - Those who claim that the Nice Treaty is a threat to Irish democracy are scare-mongering. John Gormley, the Green TD, has gone as far as to describe the treaty as "an assault on democracy". He even described the Amsterdam Treaty in 1998 as "a crass attempt to by pass the democratic process in Ireland".
We have heard such arguments before from the Greens and we are once again listening to them during this present debate in the run-up to the referendum on the Nice Treaty.
We should recall that Ireland is the only country in Europe which is putting this treaty to the people by plebiscite. This ensures maximum democratic participation by our people in deciding whether we support participation in a developing and changing European Union. A referendum on this issue is the most democratic mechanism available to the Government.
The same people who told us that the Amsterdam and Maastricht treaties would do terminal damage to our democracy now want us to believe the worst of the Nice Treaty. Allowing new members from Eastern and Central Europe to join the EU is hardly "endangering democracy" or is hardly "an act of national surrender"; and it is certainly "not a crass attempt to bypass our democratic process".
The Nice Treaty is simply a case of European housekeeping which is designed to ensure that the enlargement of the European Union can take place in a streamlined and structured manner. - Yours, etc.,
Niall Andrews MEP, Westbrook Road, Dundrum, Dublin 14.