French President cancels meeting with no campaigners

[FutureTaoiseach]

From today's Irish Times:

Sarkozy 'forum' with No side scrapped
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Cowen tells Wall Street that Irish economy can deal with difficultiesState pension fund's Zimbabwe links being investigatedMARK HENNESSY, Political CorrespondentPLANS FOR French president Nicolas Sarkozy to meet in public with anti-Lisbon Treaty campaigners have been scrapped, following last-minute nervousness by the French side.

The French leader will arrive in Dublin on Monday for a five-hour visit which has attracted considerable attention, following his private remarks on Tuesday when he told French MPs that Ireland would have to vote again.

Irish and French officials have met over the last two days to agree an itinerary for the short visit, which is the subject of considerable Irish concern that Mr Sarkozy could make a difficult situation even worse.

Now, Mr Sarkozy will arrive at Dublin Airport at 1pm and be taken to Government Buildings for a meeting, and lunch with Taoiseach Brian Cowen, followed by a brief press conference.

Then, he will be taken to the French embassy for a reception with "Irish personalties". A full list of the attendance was not available last night. It is expected to include representatives of the Yes and No sides.

Mr Sarkozy will be accompanied by the French minister for foreign affairs, Bernard Kouchner, who caused controversy in the days before the referendum when he said Irish voters would be the first to suffer if the treaty was rejected.

Last month, the French president made it clear that he wanted "to listen" to the views of the No side during his visit, but French enthusiasm for a open-type forum has waned in recent days.

The Government had been strongly opposed to the idea of a National Forum on Europe-type meeting from the beginning, believing it would grant the No side unreasonable prominence.........

This is contemptible on behalf both of the French and our own govt. For our own govt to label a meeting with those holding the views of 54% of the public on Lisbon as "unreasonable prominence" only serves to underline the arrogance and elitism of the yes camp. They are still lecturing and stubbornly refusing to listen. Disgraceful. The voice of the Irish people deserves to be heard by Mr.Sarkozy, even if he isn't exactly known for listening. If he really wants a solution to this impasse, then it will have to be on the terms of the Irish people. In that context he would do well to heed calls to meet with the no side and hear why we voted no. At a time when Europeans see Brussels as increasingly remote from the citizenry, Sarkozy's behaviour will not help matters.

[pluralist]

This guy has no respect for our democracy. He is not welcome here, as far as I am concerned.

[brio910]

A few months ago at an agricultural fair in France, Sarkozy had a few rough words for a french farmer:

Nearly one million people from France saw the amateur movie, and how Mr. Sarkozy said "get lost, you ******************************************" after the man had refused to shake his hand.

“casse-toi pauvre con” “Get lost, ******************************************” - he said this to french farmer.

Perhaps Sarkozy needs to hear his own words back to him during his visit in Ireland.

His comments were very rude of course and below the dignity of any president - but perhaps he should hear his own language back to himself.

[arnaudherve]

Imho it would be a mistake of historical proportions if respresentatives of the No campaign participated to that meeting.

The reason is simple: before the vote, the No is an opinion and you should participate democratically with people of other opinions. After the vote, the No is no longer an opinion, it's the Law.

By participating, the No campaign representatives will acknowledge the fact that the referendum of a sovereign country is just a temporary whim that can be brushed aside.

You discuss with people of a different opinion about the law, you don't discuss with people who want to break the law. So please please please Marylou McDonald and others don't go to that meeting, and don't appear on the official photographs crediting a breach of legitimate democratic procedures.

[constitutionus]

this is FANTASTIC news for the no side as now this meeting can be seen for what it is

yes camp navel gazing.

jesus its like he's trying to get an enourmous NO vote second time around.

you can almost see the meeting now


sarkozy : " You must vote again, there is no choice ! what way will you vote ?

assorted yes lads : " we'll vote YES"

sarkozy : " ALL of you ?

assorted yes lads : " yes ALL of us ! "

sarkozy : " they we are sure to win. victoire ! "

"listening" me bollocks

[QuizMaster]

He's not bringing the totty. I'm very disappointed.

[The OD]

This guy has no respect for our democracy. He is not welcome here, as far as I am concerned.

Well it also seems a lot of people in France are no longer very welcoming for him. A bitter, nasty little man, physically and mentally, our generations Margaret Thatcher it would seem.

[Podolski]

I would hope that people on the No side would not meet Sarkozy and give credence to the idea that there is need for further debate on the Lisbon Treaty which has been firmly rejected by the Irish people. I suspect that Sinn Féin and others will go to the meeting (as they have done with Bush) for the media coverage it will give them and then claim they told Sarkozy "a few home truths". This would be a mistake. Those who respect the Irish electorate should boycott any meeting with Sarkozy and his ilk until such time that he accepts that the Lisbon Treaty is dead.

[farnaby]

This is probably good news for the no camp. Would libertas supporters really want Sarkozy listening to coir or some of the unions or disgruntled farmers/fishermen and being led to believe their reasons for voting no were the main reasons ireland as a whole voted no? I voted yes but my hope is that the majority of those who voted no (like many on this site) did so out of geniune concerns about democracy and transparency, and that these concerns are the ones communicated to the current EU presidency. Little chance of the government doing that as it would further legitimise the no side.

[Aindriu]

This guy has no respect for our democracy. He is not welcome here, as far as I am concerned.

I agree.