New Irish Referendums on Seanad abolition and creation of a new Court of Appeal

I have grave concerns about the implications of the two referendums the Irish Government have arranged to be held on October 4^th, in relation the abolition of the Seanad (Senate) and the creation of a new Court of appeal.

I am reprinting below a copy of a news release I received from Nora Bennis

Dear Friends of Life and the Family,

Our worst fears about the consequence of a yes vote in the upcoming two referenda appear to be confirmed by Michael McDowell (former Attorney General) in his article in the Sunday Independent of 22/9/13.  The two referenda are intrinsically linked.

He states a yes vote will “amend the terms of Article 29 [of our Constitution] to give the Dail sole power WITHOUT HOLDING ANY REFERENDUM to surrender our EU veto on corporate tax AND ALL OTHER MATTERS WHERE NOW WE HOLD A VETO….”   The Lisbon Treaty Guarantees gave Ireland a veto on Taxation certainly.  But it also gave us a veto on two other matters – on the Right to Life, Family and Education, and on Security and Defence.   The guarantee on the Right to Life, Family and Education states:

Nothing in the Treaty of Lisbon attributing legal status to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union or in the provisions of that Treaty in the area of Freedom, Security and Justice, affects in any way, the scope and applicability of the protection of the right to life in Article 40.3.1, 40.3.2 and 40.3.3, the protection of the Family in Article 41, and the protection of the rights in respect of education in Articles 42, 44.2.4 and 44.2.5 provided by the Constitution of Ireland.

If these referenda are passed, the Dail will have sole power, without going to the people in a Referendum, to legislate in the matter of Life, Family and Education.  Enda obviously knew what he was doing when he pushed through his abortion legislation.  He anticipated a yes vote in the upcoming referenda, which would make it impossible for pro-lifers to win any Constitutional challenge to this legislation.

Vivienne Reding, EU Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, has made it quite clear that she wants to enforce respect for the Charter of Fundamental Rights on all EU member states, and she has been working hard to have member states put a “mechanism” in place which will make this possible.

I have now no doubt that the two referenda being put to the Irish people on October 4th, are part of that “mechanism”.  Once again, our politicians have bowed down to their EU masters.

Nora Bennis