The Lisbon Treaty Referendum has resulted in a
victory for the Yes camp by 67.1% to 32.9%. The result was in part due to the
enormous resources of the Yes campaign which had the support of big business,
Robbie Keane, the Bishops, Seamus Heaney and of all the government and main
opposition parties. The outcome was a dramatic reversal of the last referendum
with swings of around 20% in many constituencies.
The Irish Bourgeois are
firmly wedded to the European Union and the eurozone. Therefore it’s not
surprising that they decided to throw their weight behind the campaign. Ryanair
for example, spent €500,000 on the Yes campaign. Intel, who has just received a
€1 billion antitrust fine from the EU, chipped in €200,000.
The Lisbon Treaty
represents a potential strengthening of "Bosses Europe"; as such we
firmly oppose it. The result of the referendum is a defeat for workers, but it
doesn’t radically alter the political scenario in Ireland. Cowen and the Greens
will have woken up with a bad hangover the day after the celebration party. But
unfortunately for them the hangover won’t go away, the coalition is in
serious trouble and "normal service" will be resumed shortly.
Sections of the No campaign have made the point that the Irish were
“bullied” into voting Yes in the referendum. The press release from the No
campaign explained that:
The victory of the Yes campaign in the Lisbon referendum is the
result of sustained bullying, threats and lies by the Government, the
Opposition, the leaders of the EU and the majority of the Trade Union
leadership. While
we accept the outcome of the referendum, we think that the ratification of an
anti-democratic Treaty has been achieved by anti-democratic means.
Rather
than creating jobs, the Lisbon Treaty will drive cuts in public spending and
make the recession worse — particularly for the poor.
The
betrayal by the Labour and trade union leaders was particularly cynical. Only
three days ago, Jack O’Connor of SIPTU and Shay Cody of IMPACT publicly pledged
resistance to the Government’s proposed social spending cuts in front of a big
demonstration outside the Dáil. Yet they know that the proposed cuts constitute
the Government’s willing implementation of the EU’s demands last April for
spending cuts to comply with the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact — and
that the power to enforce these rules is strengthened by Lisbon.
They
also know that control of speculative financial trading — the root cause of the
financial crash — is made more difficult by Lisbon. Yet they concealed these
facts and supported the Government’s call for a Yes vote.
This
referendum battle may be over, but the struggle to resist neoliberalism, and
the militarism which is an intrinsic part of it, will continue. We will
campaign to build the broadest opposition to the proposed Bórd Snip cuts and
future betrayals by the leaders of the trade union movement in Ireland.”
It
is clear that the Labour and Trade union leaders swallowed the line from big
business that the vote on the treaty was about jobs. As we’ve explained
elsewhere; there is always a tendency for the trade union leaders to seek
agreements and compromises with the bourgeois. It should be no surprise to
anyone that they took the Yes line in the referendum. After all the experience
of the last few months has been of frantic attempts by the Trade Union leaders
to try and seek talks and more talks with the government and the employers.
This isn’t so much a “cynical betrayal” but a continuation of the same tired old
policy. The policy has a name; it’s called “following the line of least
resistance.”
But
does the collaboration between the parties and the huge campaign for this vote
mean that we are on the brink of a period of social peace and “sweetness and
light”? On the contrary, the period that has opened up is the most unstable
since the end of the civil war after the founding of the Free State. Peace and
harmony, like everything else under capitalism require a social base. That base
simply does not exist. The economy is in freefall and the state is in a deep
crisis. The main political parties may have been united in favour of Lisbon,
but the class divisions and contradictions in Ireland today mean that the next
period will be one of storm and stress. This will be particularly the case in
respect of the trade unions and the Labour Party also.
Lisbon
has held the headlines for a while, but in the background the opinion polls
have been demonstrating the extent of the problems that Cowen faces. The core
vote for FF is down to 9% and the Greens are divided over the way ahead. Fine
Gael and Labour are riding high in the polls and there are a whole series of
industrial disputes on the horizon. The struggles of the working class will be
reflected in the unions and in the Labour Party at a certain stage. The key
task of Marxism has always been to struggle for the leadership of the working
class. In the first instance that means
seeking to win the most advanced layers of the working class away from the
bankrupt ideas of reformism.
But
it’s also important to put things into perspective. The Yes vote for Lisbon is
a defeat for workers, but it will not have long lasting effects on the
consciousness of the working class. The economic crisis and the attacks on
jobs, wages and conditions are a far bigger factor in most workers’ minds. The
next period internationally – and particularly in Ireland – will be one of struggle and instability. Under
those conditions the ideas of Marxism will be a vital tool within the workers
movement and amongst the youth.
