EU parliment: Joe Higgins first speech

by Edward Horgan - PANA Mon Jul 27, 2009 22:52

Congratualations Joe on your contribution to the European Parliament, and you contribution to the Irish people, by getting elected to the European Parliament. Now that the Green Party have abandoned their principles, you are one of our very few principled politicians. You are following in the footsteps of Noel Browne but you are ploughing your own furrow. Your leadership of the anti-Lisbon campaign will be vital over the next 2 months.
Ireland needs to be at the heart of Europe, and the best way to do this is for the Irish people to protect European democracy by rejecting the Lisbon Treaty.
If the Irish people surrender to the cowardly leadership of our Irish and European political self-styled elite, by reversing our sovereign decision to reject the Lisbon Treaty, as the French and Dutch people rejected the European Constitution, then we loose all credibility in Europe. The politicians of Europe want to pass the Lisbon treaty so they can manipulate the people of Europe and bring Europe back to the sort of Corporate right wing politics and militarism of the 1930s Europe, that led on to World War II. Napoleon and Hitler had a vision of a United Europe - an empire that would dominate the world. Instead they destroyed Europe, and much else besides.

The concept of a European superstate is also a racist one. Recent moves to fast-track the Icelandic application to join the EU, while the applications of Bosnia, Kosovo, and Turkey are being delayed and opposed, indicated that those of the Islamic faith are far less welcome in the EU.
Joe, I recomment that you pursue a strategy of promoting a wider and a more multicultural Europe that should include Turkey as a bridge towards our fellow human beings in other parts of the world, instead of the elite so-called Christian militarised superstate that many of the existing EU political leadership are aiming for.
We can never make peace for humanity by making war, and the militarisation of Europe that is inherent in the Lisbon treaty and in the project for a United States of Europe will simply create greater divisions in humanity, and lead to more devastating conflicts such as those provoked by the visions of Napoleon, the Kaiser and Hitler.
The European Union and the people of Europe need to recognise the importance of the need for humanity to cooperate to overcome the challanges of environmental degradation, avoidable poverty and hunger, and conflicts provoked by the greed of elite groups.
The US military use of Shannon airport is a symbol and the reality of the corrupt and craven policies of recent Irish governments, that now include the Green Party. The participation of EU States in the unjustified and unlawful wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their cooperation with the US torture rendition programme are also indications of the continuation of historical Machiavelian tendencies of European states to exploit our fellow human beings in others parts of this vulnerable planet.

The people of Europe, and the people of planet Earth, need the Irish people to reject the Lisbon Treaty in the interests of all of humanity. This is probably the greatest challenge the Irish people will ever have to undertake. There is a real risk that we may fail. If we do, the Irish people will just become an irrelevent marginalised group of less than 1% of Europe, who didnt have the courage to stand by their convictions.

by Atlas Tue Jul 28, 2009 02:04

There is one very good reason that the Icelandic application to join the "European" Union should be fast- tracked compared to the Turkish application. Iceland is a European country and Turkey isn't. The clue is in the name of the Union.

by Conor. M Tue Jul 28, 2009 04:37

''There is one very good reason that the Icelandic application to join the "European" Union should be fast- tracked compared to the Turkish application. Iceland is a European country and Turkey isn't. The clue is in the name of the Union.''

WRONG, Europe is NOT a geographical entity, it is a cultural entity. And the borders have changed dramatically throughout time. We're not really a continant, its been made up for generations.

Also, mr.Atlas, have another look and you will see Turkey is closer to European countries than Iceland.

by Henry Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:45

The guy on the mike at the end was about to shout "Zis is ein OUTRAGE! TAKE ZIM OUT EIN SHUTZ HIM!"

by Pete. Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:59

Iceland is closer "genetically" than you think:

The females,in particular,largely come from Ireland and Scotland.
Their X chromoseones are Celtic...the females
Their Y chromosones are Norwegian....the males.

http://scienceblogs.com/gnxp/2009/01/genetic_variation_...m.php

Quote:

".....Confirms previous work which suggests that over half of the mtDNA from Iceland resembles lineages in the British Isles, asopposed to Scandinavia. This can be explained by the fact that many of the Icelanders were secondary immigrants who relocated from Norse settlements in Ireland and Scotland. The mtDNA implies that many of the founding females had British or Irish foremothers. In contrast, the Y data shows that Icelanders are like Norwegians. This is a window into particular social-historical dynamics during phase of Norse domination in the British Isles"

Also..
The Westmen Islands in Iceland are named after the Irish:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestmannaeyjar

The Island of Papey is named after the Irish monks who REALLY discovered Iceland:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papar

Quote:
"The Scandinavians began settling in Iceland in the 9th Century (874 AD), but the oldest source which mentions the existence of the Papar was written in the Íslendingabók ("Book of the Icelanders"), between 1122 and 1133. Such figures are mentioned in the Landnámabók (the Icelandic Book of Settlements) which relates that the Norse found Irish priests in Iceland when they arrived, together with bells and crosiers."

by Lugh Tue Jul 28, 2009 14:53

By vigorously opposing the second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, it seems to me that the people of the Republic of Ireland now have an excellent opportunity to challenge the global "Neo-Liberal agenda" - as appears to be the wish of Joe Higgins MEP (as stated by Ronoc above).

In a few dozen words, Article 6.1 of our Constitution (Bunreacht na hEireann) appears to me to capture the essential essence and ingredients of a genuine "democratic government": of the kind so very ably defined by former US President Abraham Lincoln in his now famous "government of the people, by the people, for the people" speech of 1863 (for more on this please see at http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22government+of+t...&aqi=

For those not already familiar with it, the text of Article 6.1 of Bunreacht na hEireann reads as follows:

"All powers of government, legislative, executive and judicial, derive, under God, from the people, whose right it is to designate the rulers of the State and, in final appeal, to decide all questions of national policy, according to the requirements of the common good."

It seems to me that the rejection of the "final appeal" decision of the people on the Lisbon Treaty of last year, and the holding of a second referendum for the purpose of trying to reverse it, is a straightforward violation of this core principle of genuine democracy, as represented by Article 6.1.

Ironically, it is of course worth noting too that there is nothing (that I know of) to be found in the text of the Lisbon Treaty that could even remotely be considered the equivalent of Article 6.1 of Bunreacht na hEireann: which, if the truth was fully known, is (I suspect) what probably lays at the root of the very deep worries so many people seem to have about the Lisbon Treaty.

The holding of a "Second Lisbon Treaty Referendum" now looks like a pivotal issue to me: not just for the people of the Republic of Ireland, and not just for the people of Europe even: but for the people of the entire world, and for the future of genuine democracy throughout the entire world.

I believe it's "government of the people, by the people, for the people" that the world needs, and not "government of the ruling-elites, by the ruling-elites, for the ruling-elites".

Article 6.1 of Bunreacht na hEireann and The Second Lisbon Treaty Referendum:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Article+6.1+and+Se...&aqi=

by little lulu Tue Jul 28, 2009 17:26

I believe that Turkey's standard of human rights & legal process falls short of European standards.

by Pete. Tue Jul 28, 2009 18:26

Important point.

Iceland's population is 304,000.

That's only about 4 times the population of Tallagh in Dublin..( 73,000 or so.)

It is less than the population of the Cork City metropolitan area....(380,000 or so.)

Iceland is the emptiest country in Europe...(If you can call the Mid Atlantic "Europe"!)

The population of Turkey is SEVENTY TWO MILLION.

In the EU only Germany (pop. about 82 million) is bigger than that

The EU can swallow Iceland without even noticing.

Not so Turkey !

P.S. I support Turkey's entry.....when it gets its house in order.

.

by Leopold Tue Jul 28, 2009 18:50

I think that Joe's contribution was excellent. It pulled no punches and hit them straight away with a punch straight in the face. The Labour Party, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the "independent" Irish MEPs all voted for Jerzy Buzek as President of the Parliament. It really shows them up as all being part of the same cosy consensus.... a consensus that working people, pensioners, unemployed and young people should pay for their crisis.

On the Turkey debate in this thread: Why would any one support Turkey, Iceland or any country joining the EU? The EU will only bring more and more neo-liberal politics and policies. It will bring more of the same. The EU is not some cultural organisation that's a "bridge" to other peoples. It's an exploitative economic union of the big European powers used to exploit through "free trade", the "market", etc.

If I was in Turkey I'd campaign against joining the EU, also in Iceland I'd be against it.

As for this guff about "European standards of human rights"!!!!! Say that to the 13 million Congolese killed by the Belgians in the last century, The dead of Iraq killed by UK and other EU states military, say that to the naked rape of the resources of Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America by European multinationals. Tell the millions of European unemployed of the EU's "human rights".

You are blind if you actually think that the EU is a force for any good in society.

by Pete. Wed Jul 29, 2009 08:00

"The EU will only last for another ten or fifteen years before it crumbles from the centre like all empires eventually do."

If it DOES "crumble" it will have been the most peaceful episode in European history since before the time of the Ancient Greeks.

The fact that the Italians,Germans,French,Dutch, Portugese, British etc. etc. etc.are not kicking the living daylights out of each other, for once in their history, is the REAL miracle of the EU.

It was,and still is, THE prime motivation for its existence.

The fact that Europeans,even unemployed ones,are wealthier than ever in history is a bonus.

by Rose Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:07

"The fact that the Italians,Germans,French,Dutch, Portugese, British etc. etc. etc.are not kicking the living daylights out of each other, for once in their history, is the REAL miracle of the EU."

What happens though if the largely Christian "Italians, Germans, French, Dutch, Portuguese, British etc. etc. etc" decide to all join forces (using the Lisbon Treaty) and start "kicking the living daylights" out of someone else -- such as the Muslims for example?

Pakistan (a Muslim nation) is known to have nuclear weapons; have you considered all the implications of this kind of scenario I wonder?

Also, you seem to measure "peace" only in terms of the absence of military conflict?

What about economic warfare (as evidenced by the present banking problems which many believe are contrived), psychological warfare, hidden human rights abuses, impunity, subtle anti-democratic behind-the-scenes bullying tactics of all kinds from the powerful "ruling elites", tyranny, the undermining of soverign states, and so on?

by rianorr@hotmail.com - none Wed Jul 29, 2009 13:22

The yes people always try to make out that EU Treaties are all about love and peace between
all different nationalities of europe and those oposing those treaties are therefore against
peace in Europe but the prime motivation of the EU is economic from its very begining with
the Coal and Steel pacts. Europe's industrialists planning on a continent wide basis to
achieve economies of scale ie increase profits.

Far from peace the Lisbon Treaty will help the war industries in Europe move closer to
the center of power to a position where they will be called on to 'Protect European interests'
around the world. ie that means war for other people.

by Pete. Wed Jul 29, 2009 16:00

"What happens though if the largely Christian "Italians, Germans, French, Dutch, Portuguese, British etc. etc. etc" decide to all join forces (using the Lisbon Treaty) and start "kicking the living daylights" out of someone else -- such as the Muslims for example?"

And an Asteroid might strike............the EU has better things to be doing.

The Muslims don't deed the EU for this anyway.....they do the flogging themselves.

You are cordially invited to this event......by Lubna Hussein..the victim:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/woman-faces-4...4736/

"Let the people see for themselves. It is not only my issue," she said. "This is retribution to thousands of girls who are facing flogging for the last 20 years because of wearing trousers," she said. "They prefer to remain silent."
.

by RedBlackArmy Thu Jul 30, 2009 09:46

You're right about one thing Pete, an Asteroid might strike but there is far more chance of the EU getting embroiled in a war than that.

by Susan Thu Jul 30, 2009 12:47

The fact of the matter is that there are plenty of people in Europe (and elsewhere) who are growing more and more concerned about all the venomous "Anti Muslim" rhetoric being vented across the EU at the present time.

Things appear to have already got to a stage where some even see such vitriolic language as becoming reminiscent of the kind of treatment the Jewish people began to be subjected to in pre World War Two Germany.

Most of us know what such verbal slurs eventually led on to; and how it ended for the millions who perished in WW2, and the millions of others who were left wounded and scared for the rest of their lives.

Many of us here in the Republic of Ireland -- I would like to think the VAST majority of us -- have no wish whatsoever to see such atrocities repeated: either here in Europe, or anywhere else in the world.

Christian Muslim Conflict, Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Lisbon Treaty, and Ireland:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Christian+Muslim+C...&aqi=

by Mike - Judean Popular Peoples Front Thu Jul 30, 2009 20:47

Funny I dont remember hearing anything about Iceland occupying a neighbouring country, Outlawing their language and attempting to forcibly assimilate its population while banning political parties, censoring the media, holding political prisoners, murdering opponents, rigging elections. Nor am I aware of any recent instances of Iceland committing an act of genocide against an ethnic group on its (ill-gotten) territory and subsequently insisting to this day there was no genocide. And I cannot recall Iceland invading another country and engaging in a spot of ethnic cleansing.

True Iceland (like Turkey) does have ongoing territorial disputes with some existing EU member states but I cant see any reasonable person being prepared to go to war over Rockall

As for Germans, French, Dutch, or British being "largely Christian" (except in a narrow and largely meaningless constitutional sense in the case of the latter) what century are you living in?

Oh and Islam isint a "race" not sure what relevance all this stuff about genetics is supposed to be though. Unless some of the Chucks have designs on the Iceland after the Northern Ireland Anschluss is completed?