Panke on the EU
Submitted by Ciarán on Wed, 14/05/2008 - 10:29.
Fair dues to United Irelander, who though I do tend to find him annoying at times (which is not necessarily a bad thing), tends to be a generally honest interlocutor. Anyway, he's massively anti-Lisbon but did post a long email interview with Diana Panke at UCD on Lisbon and other matters. Check it out. My only quibble is that the format doesn't give UI an opportunity to reveal whether what Panke has to say makes him change his mind (or if not, why not), but still, this the discursive element in the Irish blogosphere at its best.
Heh, thanks for the kind
Heh, thanks for the kind words. I think if the rest of the Yes side had argued for the Treaty the way Dr Panke did, and hadn't yelled out 'distortion' at every opportunity when the No side put forth their concerns, that things might have been much closer.
"My only quibble is that the format doesn't give UI an opportunity to reveal whether what Panke has to say makes him change his mind (or if not, why not), but still, this the discursive element in the Irish blogosphere at its best."
I take your point on that, Ciaran. I guess the main reason I leave most of the commentary to others is because I want to remain unbiased and not come across like a smart-arse by dissecting stuff after the interview date. I leave the smart-arsed stuff for my normal posts. ;)
Thanks UI. I suppose that
Thanks UI. I suppose that you are constrained by your interview format, which I guess is that you send an email with the questions and post the reply. It doesn't give you the chance, say on this occasion, to say 'here is a list of reasons why I think I'll vote no: why do you think I'm wrong?' And then to have a debate. But that would involve a right to reply for your interlocutor and I imagine the whole thing could become a pain for all concerned.
On the whole though I thought it was a very open-minded and intellectually generous gesture on your part.
On the distortion issue, well a lot of what got said was distortion at best (I mean, conscription??) and I'm still in an almighty sulk about the result. But you've hit the nail on the head: this was a failure of the yes campaign. Or to put it differently, I'm more or less entirely with Gerry O'Sullivan's analysis.
In some ways, I think that Ireland has now got a serious problem with referendums: with political parties being expected to foot the financial and intellectual bill for 'yes' campaigns, and with a prevailing (and justified) cynicism about politics in the society, there's a risk that a well-funded 'no' campaign can take the running in a way that is precisely the inverse of what the second McKenna judgement was supposed to prevent.
That might be a risk worth thinking about (leaving referendum 'yes' campaigns to groups designed and funded to run election campaigns). But it doesn't at all mean that those of us who are disappointed at the result ought forgive the unholy disaster that was FF especially in the last few months. And their total failure to define Lisbon on the doorsteps over the last year. Thanks and goodbye to Bertie.
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