June 13 (LPAC)--The Irish have decisively defeated the Lisbon Treaty. A total of 53.4% voted "No" while 46.6% voted in favor, or 752,451 "Yes" and 852,415 "No." Only 8 of the 43 voting districts actually voted for the treaty. In some districts, especially urban working class districts, the "No" vote topped 65%. The Irish Times reports that the treaty was overwhelmingly defeated in working class and agricultural areas. Five of the eight Dublin districts voted "No."

Lyndon LaRouche commented yesterday that "this pattern corresponds to the Hillary Clinton primary vote in the United States. It's the same tendency. The urban and rural lower 80% in family income brackets, especially in certain branches of the 25-35 age group, as typical, are strongly against this kind of crap."

The results were similar to the "No" vote over the Nice I treaty but, unlike then, when the turnout was only 35%, the turnout this time was 53%. Even in Nice II, which was approved, the turnout was only 49%. It was expected that the high turnout this time would help the "Yes" vote, but it clearly did not. Although there were no exit polls last night, the Irish Times reported that the "No" voters, who covered the broad spectrum of society, expressed determination and were happy to say how they had voted.

Ironically, the government tried to claim that their defeat was due to a lack of information about the treaty, but in fact their entire strategy had been to withhold as much information as possible, in hopes of snowing people--and it backfired. Junior minister Noel Ahern was a bit more honest, saying the defeat was because the treaty "lacked one good major thing that you could sell."

"No" vote campaigners were delighted. Taking a page from the Hillary Clinton primary campaign, they had focused their organizing on going directly to the population, and did not waste time on Euro-parliamentarians or political parties. The founder of the "No" organization Libertas, Declan Ganley, said: "The Irish people have rejected the Lisbon Treaty. It is a great day for Irish democracy." He added, "This is democracy in action... and Europe needs to listen to the voice of the people."

Underscoring the significance of the working class opposition, Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins said that the "No" vote was a "huge rebuff to the political establishment" and a vindication of the rights of "tens of millions of workers" in the European Union. He added: "Certainly from the point of view of the Socialist Party, the key elements that we raised, of concern about public services, militarization and worker rights and the race to the bottom, they got a key echo among working people and in working class areas, and that was shown quite clearly in the result. This is not a disaster, which they have been trying to make out. In fact, this can be a rallying call for workers throughout Europe who have been at the brunt of this neo-liberal juggernaut from the EU in terms of privatization of services, attacking their pension rights, attacking the idea of a decent wage and a proper job."

Mary Lou MacDonald, of Sinn Fein, which along with the Socialist Party were the only parties in the parliament that voted against the treaty, said the people's vote demonstrated their commitment to neutrality and the fear of the "loss of power" if the treaty were approved.

The delight extended well beyond Ireland. One Dutch member of the Socialist Party, which campaigned against the treaty, told EIR that, "while the danger will not be over until a new non-neoliberal model is put forward, and that the Eurocrats will surely try again to impose their dictatorship, for the next 2-5 years there will be no neo-liberal superstate with a common foreign and military policy."

(In response to the Irish defeat of the Lisbon Treaty, LaRouche PAC extends a hearty congratulations to all of Europe and a BIG “F*ck You” to London.)