This is an interesting piece from the BBC about yesterday’s Irish referendum, complete with a picture of nuns fresh from voting!

Voting has closed in the Republic of Ireland’s second referendum on the EU’s Lisbon Treaty – a vote that may decide long-delayed EU changes. They previously rejected the treaty in a June 2008 referendum, by a margin of almost 7%. This time opinion polls suggest the Yes camp will win.

If at first you don’t succeed, keep telling lies until you do.

The Republic of Ireland is the only one of the EU’s 27 member states to put the treaty to a referendum.

At least one other country was promised one and France and the Netherlands voted against the original Constitution, but the word ‘No’ means something different to the EU mobsters than it does to everyone else.

Ireland’s economy has been hit hard by recession since the last vote was held.

So the ‘Yes’ camp are playing on people’s fears that the Irish economy can only prosper by being controlled from Brussels. Couldn’t they see that the “Celtic Tiger” was a mirage that would disappear like a puff of Irish mist?

Turnout in Dublin averaged 44% by 1800 GMT, officials said. That contrasted sharply with other parts of the country, where turnout was as low as 10% in several areas by midday.

This is almost hilarious, or it would be, but for the deadly seriousness of the whole thing. The only country to have a vote – two votes – on the Lisbon Treaty has a ten percent turnout in some areas.

Welcome to democracy, EU-style. The ‘democracy’ that, should the Irish have voted ‘yes’ yesterday, might very well propel Tony Blair into the job of first unelected (by the people) ‘President of Europe‘.

Well, why do you think he converted to Catholicism? He had to be after either this or the Pope’s job. Or both.

“Exit polls so far are definitely suggesting a shift towards a ‘Yes’ vote, particularly in working class and inner-city areas which came out in force for a ‘No’ vote last time,” an official with the governing Fianna Fail party told the agency.

They want to be sure they know where their next three meals are going to come from. Brussels, they imagine.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen urged voters to go to the polls: “It is an important day for the country and an important referendum… I’d ask everybody, we all have rights as citizens, and one of the rights that should be cherished is our right to vote.”

I agree. Cherish your vote, because you are the only ones to get one in this great democracy of half a billion people.

In Louth, 250 jobs have been lost recently at the Coca-Cola factory, with further redundancies at Xerox – in a region that voted strongly No last time. But being close to the UK border, there are strong Republican sympathies here. Some argue that having fought for Irish independence it would be reckless to hand more power to Brussels, our correspondent adds.

This is how crazy it is: ‘we don’t want to be ruled from London, but an ultra corrupt and all-controlling bunch of unelected foreigners following a globalist agenda is… so much better’.

Apart from Ireland, the only other countries yet to ratify Lisbon are the Czech Republic and Poland. Despite opposition calls for a referendum in the UK, the treaty has been ratified there by parliament.

There is still some hope left with the Czech fellow. Let’s pray he doesn’t have an ‘accident’, eh?

All of Ireland’s major parties campaigned for a Yes vote except the nationalist Sinn Fein. The party believes rejecting the treaty would secure a more democratic EU. Its leader Gerry Adams said: “Citizens want a fairer Ireland, a fairer Europe, a democratic Ireland, a democratic Europe.

What can I say? I might have to change my view of him of being nothing more than a big hairy, scary monster.

The Yes camp also had some lavish donations from big business.

And how did big business lavish gifts on the other political parties?

The repeat referendum is about the same treaty text, but since last year EU leaders have given specific commitments on issues which made some Irish voters nervous last time. The country will not be forced to legalise abortion, to lose control over taxation and will not have its neutrality threatened.

So, they’ll still be allowed to hate the English. But one day soon, you just know, it will be a crime to criticise the EU and its President, St. Tony.

Even if the Irish have caved in to the fear of fear itself and voted “Yes, okay, you’ve twisted me arm this time” then there is still hope for us and all of Europe if the ‘grassroots’ Tories can make their globalist-sucking leaders act according to their wishes and those of the majority of the British people.

We yet live in hope.

UPDATE 5.0PM – Ireland votes “Yes”.