HOW THE IRISH SAVED CIVILIZATION- again.

profitsbeard on June 13, 2008 at 9:27 AM

Yep

and based to some degree on the Bible, just like the last time

It needn’t be this way. Twenty years ago, millions of men and women understood that their freedom lay in their identity, and vice versa. Just Imagine what they may yet accomplish.- Bret Stephens has a piece in WSJ
[smellthecoffee on June 13, 2008 at 10:01 AM]

Thanks for the information on Sharanskys book “Defending Identity”

I am still amazed at the speed by which removing trade barriers was redefined to include loss of sovereignity so that the trade organization soon became master and controlled not only trade but what vitamins one is allowed to sell over the counter, or whether a nation should be allowed to ban abortion.

The varying methods of accountability in nations was usurped by trade levels of accountability designed to suit the new master – trade and designed to crush the old master – the culture.

With trade as the new world leader, certain cultures have been given a pass (islam) due to commodity market realities, while other cultures have been crushed (Christian) as impediments to the greased wheels of commerce.

Irish dump Lisbon Treaty, EU stunned

YES!

Ireland turned itself around from stangation to prosperity in the past 15 years or so through tax cuts and other pro-business policies which benefit not only foreign investment ( which was present since the 1960s ) but also help large and small Irish firms–and by the Irish people taking advantage of those policy changes and making the most of them.

Fianna Fail, which is usually in power ( unless a Minister gets caught with a mistress or a pile of cash ) gets much of the credit, because they have been the dominant force in Irish government since the Treaty and they finally Accepted Reality by abandoing their backward pseudo-populist agenda

If you haven’t been here since the 80s, ye’ll hardly recognize the place……….

Irish America magazine named him (Tim Russert) one of the top 100 Irish Americans in the country, and he was selected as a Fellow of the Commission of European Communities.

RIP

MNDavenotPC on June 13, 2008 at 2:51 PM

Go raibh maith agat.

The EU experiment as federal government seems destined for failure.

I prefer to say that the EU oligarchs’ choice for an empire instead of a federation seems destined for failure. But it’s probably too late for a federal European government, too, if we can trust Mark Steyn at all.

merely keeping the peace won’t be enough to save Europe.

GermanAtheist on June 13, 2008 at 1:46 PM

Very insightful

Yet another factor is the work ethic of the Irish people – those of us who get up every day and go to work. The Irish work longer hours than any other country in Europe. Isn’t the American complaint about Europeans that they work short hours? Well in Ireland we work long hours and that is part of reason why we are rich.

aengus on June 13, 2008 at 1:40 PM

Indeed. The other factor for so many American corporations, large and small, is that English is spoken. Companies where quality and regulation/s matter, can’t affort to just ship manufacturing to anyone, specifially in the medical field. It’s easy to train the Irish workforce, in addition to the myriad of tax and ather business breaks.

GermanAtheist, where has the power of the DM gone? The prices in Germany doubled easily with the conversion to the Euro, Germany the economic powerhouse became the do-gooder ‘cow’, the one who patiently provides a good part of the milk for all other. I have no idea why you see this as good, but you’re certainly entitled to it.

Greece, Spain, and a bunch of others would be nothing without the ‘milking’ of the other 2-3 who’ve paid for it all. Ireland took drastic measures to open up, to be different and welcoming to entrepreneurs.

Power of any kind is blinding. If you’re willing to pay for it, giving up sovereignty, freedom, liberty, no one can interfere, and no one should. I just have one peeve, that mostly the people don’t have much say in it.

I do have another peeve, noted before. I’d like for this new EU power to please invest more money and blood in its own defense. Also, if the EU does become a federation, I’d like to see one EU ambassador to Wash. D.C. and only one to the U.N., same as the U.S.A. should then have just one to the EU, and one to the U.N.

I agree with Franco-German cooperation to keep the peace as far as thats possible but I don’t think it need involve all European countries as the EU claims it must.

aengus on June 13, 2008 at 12:47 PM

Without ratification, it certainly won’t involve Ireland. The European Union will continue and add Ireland as another Switzerland or Norway, dominated by our economic power without any formal membership and the rights included in it. It is the same vision most European conservatives have for Turkey’s future status in relation to the EU.

Again, the EU is a way for Europe to assert itself. It started as a system of control directed against Germany in order to keep the peace in Continental Europe, but it has moved beyond that and merely keeping the peace won’t be enough to save Europe.

American investment is another important factor. Microsoft did not set up their European HQ in Ireland because of anything the EU did. Intel manufacture microchips in Ireland also. The list goes on and on.

Another factor is the tax and education policies pursued by the Fianna Fail government roughly 25 years ago. They’ve won more elections

Yet another factor is the work ethic of the Irish people – those of us who get up every day and go to work. The Irish work longer hours than any other country in Europe. Isn’t the American complaint about Europeans that they work short hours? Well in Ireland we work long hours and that is part of reason why we are rich.

The Irish were very pro Europe when they were pumping the other nations for development funds. Now the funding is done and they are balking at having to contribute to similar programs in Eastern Europe.

Give me a break. The EU got it all back and more. We opened up our fishing lanes years ago. The huge Continental trawlers sailed in and cleaned up. Its a multi-million dollar industry.

As far I’m concerned the EU oight to borrow a line from The Hicthhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “Goodbye and thanks for all the fish!”

Even if it were true that the EU was responsible for Irish prosperity (it isn’t) we were never told that this was a down-payment on our sovereignty and that we would have to give up our freedom to show our gratitude and appreciation.

In France and Ireland EU reform referendums failed because of public hostility to the local government and it has less to do with real EC issues.

Completely untrue. The Irish Government have been re-elected three times in a row. They were re-elected just a few months ago. The Irish electorate does not have a serious problem with them. The problem is with the danger of harmonisation of corporate tax and transferfing centralised military command to Brussels.

The EU has always been the great experiment of bureaucracy
over ethnic sensibilities and tribal loyalties. Great bets have been made on this Orwellian enterprise.

Those EU bigwigs better stop allowing their citizens to vote on anything.

Think_b4_speaking on June 13, 2008 at 9:39 AM

I’m sure that will be part of the new constitution…

In France and Ireland EU reform referendums failed because of public hostility to the local government and it has less to do with real EC issues. It’s a pity since many of the reforms in the proposal would deal with issues of accountability and democracy within the EC which put so many off supporting the entity.

The EU has a Central Bank… they are growing closer together with or without the ratification of Lisbon.

aengus, I’m sincerely happy for you, your effort rewarded for now.

Thanks.

The language of the treaty is so ambiguous that it could be interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights to mean almost anything.

GermanAtheist on June 13, 2008 at 12:30 PM

I disagree totally and I’m surprised you think so. Ireland is too much to the right of the Continent on too many issues. Ditto Switzerland.

I agree with Franco-German cooperation to keep the peace as far as thats possible but I don’t think it need involve all European countries as the EU claims it must.