Ok , so some of you are a bit tired of hearing about farmers and the WTO. You know that debate on whether the upcoming WTO talks will mean that EU member states will lose their right to veto the trade deal if Irish voters ratify the Lisbon Treaty currently being negotiated on our behalf by a seemingly uncaring and often belligerent Peter Mandelson.

Well, last weekend it exercised the Irish Times to have not one but three articles on it. First up was Irish Times political correspondent DEAGLÁN DE BRÉADÚN, reporting from the campaign trail with Brian Cowen who is currently doing the Bertie role of handshaking etc , (I think they call it “going retail” in US political communication speak).

DE BRÉADÚN opened his article saying that:

“TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen has appealed to farmers and their organisations to keep their “eye on the ball” by voting for the Lisbon Treaty instead of using the referendum to make a point about the current world trade talks.”

Further on in the paper Mark Hennessy takes up the baton and opens his article writing that:

“Ireland will still be able to veto future World Trade Organisation agreements, the European Commission has said, as it presented a detailed reply to charges made by Lisbon treaty opponents“.

The opponents that Hennessy might have referred to were the Campaign Against the EU Constitution (CAEUC) who had at 5pm the previous day uploaded onto their website a 6,700 word referenced article on their analysis of the WTO and the Lisbon treaty, so such a tome might have merited a detailed reply.

Hennessy makes copious references to the EU Commission statement but it has still to appear on their website, so ordinary punters like you and me will have to be satisfied with the Hennessy version.

If you don’t want the Irish Times to do your thinking for you and want to look at the original analysis that prompted not just Brian  Cowen into action but the Irish Times also you can go to www.CAEUC.org and scroll down.

Finally hats off to Garrett FitzGerald also writing in Saturday’s Times who managed to move off the claim made frequently by Pro-Treaty politicians that Ireland will lose its “goodwill” in the EU if citizens vote No. This is all too mild for FitzGerald who writes that voting No will mean the 26 Counties will become a “European pariah”.

After making this incredible claim he goes on to also talk about the WTO making it a hat trick for the Times on the day .

Funny though he was the one to accuse the No campaign of “mendacious propaganda”, maybe he should move out of the EU glass house,