Good Soldier Schweik, may I first point out that there is really no need to shout or even remind me that you are an Englishman living in Ireland.

While I would dearly love to see the narrow gague Schull and Skibbereen railway once more trundling over the magnicent Ballydehob it really is about as likely as re opening all the other non profit making branch lines that were scrapped in the UK a long time before the advent of the EU

So what has the EU done for Iarnród Éireann?

In the mid-1990s EU money was being spent on rail infrastructure, but there was little state funding, other than significant revenue support for socially desirable services the railway was obliged to provide

'The infrastructure was getting older,' explained Pat Mangan, who was appointed Assistant Secretary at the Department of Transport in June 1995. 'Safety was becoming an increasing issue. If you've got to reduce speeds all the time, you get a poorer service. We couldn't continue as we were.'
'Through the 1990s the EU money that came in was absolutely crucial,' says Mangan.
In 1998 €51m of EU funding was allocated to increase capacity in the Dublin area, through infrastructure work and the purchase of rolling stock. A further €15m was allocated to main line track upgrading.
The EU 2000-06 investment programme provided €300m.

Why the the English - or any of the other members of the EU - not vote on the treaty?

Only Ireland is bound by its constitution to hold a referendum.

You asked, in loud capitals, if I understoof the Lisbon Treaty - I might throw that back at you and ask how many of the people who will be voting actually do?

to quote The Irish times on Monday

"IT IS likely that when many voters turn out for the referendum on October 2nd the detailed specifics of the Lisbon Treaty may not be weighing most heavily on their minds
It is the nature of the referendum process for good or ill. Some will cast their votes because they believe we should be more or less involved in the EU
Some simply on the basis that they trust the supporters of one side more. Yet others, one fears, because they feel the Government deserves to be punished

In the history of European treaties Lisbon ranks lowly in terms of its impact on the shape of the EU and its politics. No great projects here, no single currency, no single market, it is mainly a series of incremental changes to institutional and decision-making structures, a few new jobs, a reaffirmation of core values and the setting out of some new political priorities, most notably relating to climate change

The treaty also enhances accountability and transparency by giving national parliaments new powers over legislation, opening to the public ministers' meetings when they are legislating, and creating a new citizens' initiative system.

(It)…….is not permitted, to encroach on areas of sovereignty that were of particular concern such as abortion, corporate taxation and military neutrality"

Cóir, the group leading opposition to the Lisbon Treaty, make claims that the danger, is not that the Lisbon Treaty itself would overthrow Ireland's pro-life law, but that "the treaty will give the EU courts the right to decide on abortion
However even Irish bishops claimed in their statement that they were remaining neutral on the referendum, and condemned what they called "misleading, incorrect, irrelevant" statements by opponents of the Treaty.

Green Party Dublin West representative Roderic O'Gorman has also condemned as lies, posters put up by the anti-Lisbon organisation COIR about the minimum wage.
"Over the last few days, the anti-Lisbon organisation COIR has been putting up posters around Dublin 15 stating that if Lisbon is passed, the minimum wage will become €1.84. As someone who lectures in European Union law, I can say that this claim is completely and utterly false", he stated

Meanwhile, after his failed campaign for the European Parliament in June in which his pan-European party, Libertas, was also routed
Declan Ganley said he would not get involved in a second referendum.

His re-entry into the fight comes at a time when opinion polls show support for a "yes" vote gaining ground and Ganley is gambling that he can swing the pendulum back again but much has changed since the country first rejected the treaty on June 13, 2008

In the intervening period the global recession has had a catastrophic effect on the Irish economy and many are weighing any argument against Lisbon against the prospect of isolation in Europe.

Paddy Murray (rugby fan, music lover, Irishman) writing on 'dodgy' Declan last year