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Seventy per cent want EU treaty referendum, new poll shows

Image: sermoa via Flickr

MORE THAN SEVEN in ten people believe the proposed new EU treaty should be put to a referendum, a new poll shows.

Some 72 per cent agreed that “Irish people should be asked to ratify any proposed treaty change” in the research carried out by Red C for the Sunday Business Post.

Just 21 per cent said they did not believe a referendum should be held.

When asked how they would vote in any such referendum, 40 per cent of people said they would vote ‘Yes’ – a slim majority over the 36 per cent who said they would vote ‘No’.

This appears to undermine the stance of Opposition politicians, who have repeatedly suggested that the Government is trying to avoid holding a referendum which it fears it will lose.

European leaders are due to hammer out the final wording of the proposed treaty at an EU summit which begins on Monday.

The poll shows support for the individual political parties to be almost unchanged. Fine Gael were down two points on 30 per cent; Labour up one on 14 per cent; no change for Fianna Fáil on 18 per cent; Sinn Féin up two on 17 per cent; and independents up one on 21 per cent.

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Comments (46 Comments)

  • Neil Kettles 28/01/12 #
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    I’m surprised that it’s only 70%. How can anyone trust this Government with something this important?

    Reply
    • Gary Clowry 29/01/12 #
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      So we should trust people who have no experience in complex international treaties instead?

    • Cyphers Magee 29/01/12 #
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      Why trust the stupid little people with anything? Stupid democracy, eh Gary?

    • Gary Clowry 29/01/12 #
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      I didn’t say that. People are crying we can’t trust the government, you know the one we just elected. But these are professional politicians, backed by a small army of advisor’s and civil servants. It’s their job to know. On the other hand we’ll have most people who won’t actually read the content of the treaty or be advised properly. The point is being made we shouldn’t trust the professionals then why should we trust the local hairdresser, the plumber, the road sweeper, etc etc etc. In a democracy everyone’s vote is equal, their opinions on the other hand are not.

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      Gary I don’t know how many politicians you’ve met up to now but trust me I have met quite a few. Professional politicians are good at getting elected and thats about it. Outside of that they are, in my humble opinion, the professional group with the lowest average iq of all professional groups. Honestly its a wonder we haven’t had a third world war by now!

      I mean the primary job of the politician, in their eyes, is to get elected, full stop.

    • Gary Clowry 29/01/12 #
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      Again I didn’t say we should blindly trust *anyone*. I asked if people are saying we can’t trust professionals why should we trust the local shopkeeper, baker, shoemaker… whomever. What would be a good idea is if people informed themselves properly. The problem then being if you by default won’t believe the people we just elected then who exactly do you believe.
      In the first Lisbon treaty vote people believed the the scaremongers over the politicians, turned out the politicians were telling the truth.

  • jimbo 28/01/12 #
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    We want a referendum thats 100%

    quote:Just 21 per cent said they did not believe a referendum should be held.

    was that 21% members of the government???

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  • Gill Jones 28/01/12 #
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    40% would vote yes!?! I’m flabbergasted it’s such a high percent.

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  • john joe 28/01/12 #
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    Yes to jobs!!!

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  • Punt Nua 28/01/12 #
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    This and the previous government have systematically undermined the democratic process in Ireland. Regardless how we vote, we’ll have to keep voting until ‘we’ get the answer right

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  • aisling quigley 28/01/12 #
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    I wouldnt trust these polls if people voted yea to this they dserve everything they get! I just seen d latest tat d eu could take control of greece its a joke!

    Reply
  • Mark Rodgers 28/01/12 #
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    Ailing the correct use of the verb would be “saw” as opposed to the word ” seen”.

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  • Mark Rodgers 28/01/12 #
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    Why would we hold a costly referendum if the Attorney General advises that it is unnecessary even if a majority are going to pass it according to the polls just published.
    Those insisted on such a needless plebiscite should be asked to pay an entrance ticket to the polling stations!

    Reply
    • Philip Doyle 28/01/12 #
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      …should be asked to pay ‘for’ an entrance ticket…

    • Réada Quinn 28/01/12 #
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      Oh Mark, Mark. How one must wish for an edit facility when one writes “insisted” instead of “insisting”. Especially when one has put oneself forward as Chief Commissioner of the Grammatical Police. Oh dear…

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      Its called the price of democracy Mark. If we go down that road we could also argue against needless costly elections when what we need is stability in government and strong leadership. Ein reich, ein volk and all that sort of thing,…apologies to the german speakers here!

  • Gavin McGuinness 28/01/12 #
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    Well I know that if a referendum is put in front of me I will be voting no.

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  • Mark Rodgers 28/01/12 #
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    Thanks Reada

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  • Simon Power 28/01/12 #
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    There is no way the government will risk the public coming up with the “wrong answer”. They will do everything to avoid a referendum and if the attorney general insists, they will start the fear mongering. I have a novel proposal, it’s called democracy. Let the people decide. We are not the morons the government thinks we are.

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  • Report this comment

    Any poll that puts a yes vote in the lead isn’t credible.

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  • JibberIrish 28/01/12 #
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    Seventy percent of what!?

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  • Chrissy Beanz 28/01/12 #
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    A referendum = leverage. Bring it on, and then watch them do all they can to buy a positive response. If it happens, we will at last have something to bargain with. They’ll try frightening us first, when they realize we are not scared that easily anymore, they will have to be more conciliatory.

    Reply
  • Karl Doyle 29/01/12 #
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    You’ve failed to mention 24% are undecided and that this is all normal as it always starts Yes but ends No.

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  • William O'Shea 29/01/12 #
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    Watch as this government tries everything in its power to avoid a referendum….. How much more evidence is required to make people realise this “national” government is nothing of the sort? Committed national governments strive to protect their peoples interests. I see absolutely no evidence of this happening here!

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  • Dario Fo 29/01/12 #
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    There will not be a referendum. We have a selective dictatorship in government.

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  • Eileen Gabbett 29/01/12 #
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    I cannot see that a referendum will take place .Much and all as I want one to happen and believe it should happen ,there are too many in Gov., that will not allowit happen. J C This country is in a right mess .

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  • Gary Clowry 29/01/12 #
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    I read the comments about the EU day in and day out and one thing is for sure the majority of the ranting is by people who have no real idea how the EU operates. Many of these same people are demanding a referendum that they can be equally ill-informed on. It is not one little bit of a surprise the government doesn’t want a referendum, not because they want to shaft us but because they already know what a clusterfúck of bull it’s going to be. The whining about the Lisbon treaty goes on apace, not a week goes by without me hearing yes for jobs. Yet not one thing the No side said has happened because of the Lisbon treaty, not a single one. The Lisbon campaign was pretty pathetic on the whole but if we want to look at who lied by far the most then it was clearly the no side. And that’s exactly what we’re demanding again, that the same people will come out and tell yet more lies.
    I read the Lisbon treaty, most of it anyway and it was boring as hell. Much easier to believe it did all those nasty things though. Why does anyone think it’s a good idea to have a complicated legal document approved or not by people who have no expertise. In a referendum everyone’s opinion is equal but in real life everyone’s opinion is not equal. Not looking forward to this forthcoming fiasco at all.

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  • Derek Richardson 29/01/12 #
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    do people still seriously believe that democracy is still alive after all the shit they have swallowed from the dictators and financial governing of the last couple of years

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