Hi,

Welcome to my voteno2lisbon blog. There are just three weeks to go to referendum day, when the people of the 26 Counties get to set the agenda for the rest of Europe for the coming years as we are the only EU member state to have a referendum on this treaty.

It is a strange feeling when you think about it. Europe’s first colony becomes the last democracy…… (and Ireland is not a great advertisement for democracy, Exhibit A – The health service; Exhibit B – traffic gridlock; Exhibit C – political corruption… I could go but this isn’t supposed to be a depressing blog.

If we vote Yes, it will be business as usual, the EU will be more powerful and less accountable than ever. If we vote No, nothing will change.

A No vote will not change any existing EU law, directive or policy. It will though give us time to take a breath and think about what is the best Europe for everyone.

What type of Europe do you want to grow old in? What type of Europe would you like your children to grow up in?

So I have started this blog to profile some reasons for voting No and highlight the good bits of the No campaign and the Sinn Fein campaign in particular.

And with Ireland not in the European Cup this summer and Dustin destined only for the Martha Stewart Christmas special this is the only European show on the go right now.

Then there is the Yes campaign group who as the days go by are wheeling out a seemingly inexhaustible supply of important people and groups who want you and me to vote Yes. I want to give some time to asking what are the Yes campaigners up to and maybe highlight some of their inconsistencies, inaccuracies and so on ( I really don’t like to use the word lies..)

Please add comments, criticism etc when appropriate and if you are thinking about voting No and on the campaign trail tell us your stories from the front.