> Sarkozy's spokesperson has just said that Ireland will have to have another referendum, saying he has "no doubt that Ireland's leaders should be capable of persuading to vote in favour of the Treaty".

"Persuading"? Does this spokesperson have any idea how hard they tried this time? I can't remember when I last saw such a propaganda campaign. (Not to mention funded it with my taxes.)

There's something deeply repellent in the idea of a government needing to resort to "persuasion" tactics to induce its people to act (as many believe) against their own interests. The wider this dichotomy, the more it smells.

What are they going to do, make us an offer we can't refuse? The whole reason we HAVE a referendum here is because it's in our Constitution. And the whole reason we have a Constitution is ...