More brilliant arguments from the Yes side

Sometimes I think I should offer a cash prize to the first person who can offer a single good reason for voting Yes on 2 October. Yesterday we had Fionnan Sheahan trot out the tired old mantra of our vote really being about whether or not we want to be in Europe, not about whether or not we accept a bad treaty. In today's Irish Times, IFA president Padraig Walshe gives three reasons why he is voting yes - none of which have anything to do with the Treaty at all.

"Mr Walshe said one of the reasons for voting Yes was that European membership has given Ireland access to an unrestricted market of over 500 million consumers. "As a food exporter, as a food island .... access to that market is crucial for us."

R-r-right. The common market has been in place for many years now, and how we vote on Lisbon is not going to change our access to it one way or the other. But he continues:

"Also, membership of the euro has kept interest rates low over the past few years, and it has benefited Irish agriculture."

Okaaayyy - but the referendum is not about the euro, it's about the Lisbon Treaty. When is Mr Walshe going to get around to talking about that? Well, never, apparently:

"The future of the Common Agricultural Policy is up for renegotiation in the next couple of years, and we feel it is much more important for us to be involved in the heart of those negotiations, that we can influence what is likely to happen going forward rather than being on the periphery as we might be if we were to vote No."

Nope, nothing about the content of the Treaty here either - just the usual "the other member states will give us the cold shoulder if we say no" speculation. In not one of Mr Walshe's three reasons for voting Yes is a single article or provision of the Lisbon Treaty invoked.

Incidentally, his reasoning on the last point is absolutely fallacious. Involved in the heart of CAP negotiations? What, you mean the negotiations that allow French farmers to receive 25 % of CAP funds, despite constituting less than 10% of the farmers in the EU? And that's despite the fact that France said no to the EU Constitution! Also, Mr Walshe should be aware that Lisbon will slash Ireland's voting weight on the Council of Ministers - not exactly an outcome that will allow us to "influence what is likely to happen."

So I'm still waiting for an argument from the Yes camp that does not consist of either vague speculations about the future or the nostalgic "but Europe has done so much for us!" palaver. And I suspect I'll be waiting for some time ...