Irish Behaving Badly? Referendum verbal jousting

Repeat Referendum 2 Nov: New poll has Yes side in lead in Ireland's Lisbon Treaty debate; A new poll for the Irish Times shows that 48% of people plan to vote Yes, 33% plan to vote No, and 19% are undecided in Ireland's Lisbon Treaty referendum next week. This represents a 2 point increase for the Yes side, and a 4 point increase for the No side since the last Irish Times poll in early September.

At a similar stage in last year's campaign, the No side was leading the Yes side by 35 to 30 points, with 35% undecided. Excluding the 'don't knows', the Yes side is now in the lead by 59% to 41%, compared with 61% to 39% at the beginning of the month.

The Irish Times reports that during a live radio debate Declan Ganley reminded Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary of his previous criticisms of the European Commission as "Stalinist" and "an evil empire" run by "morons" and "gobshites". O'Leary also said that: "only in the European Union, Ireland and Zimbabwe are you forced to vote twice". An unrepentant O'Leary reportedly rolled his eyes and responded, "Accept No for an answer Declan and bugger off".

>On the Guardian's Comment Is Free website, Declan Ganley writes that, by voting No last time, "we Irish behaved badly, and were therefore required as a matter of course to vote again. Nearly every EU leader agrees with this. Their own people must not vote, but the Irish must vote twice. It would be funny - a parody in fact - were it not real."
Mike J Kirby