On Monday Nicolas Sarkozy will land in Ireland, on what he has termed a “fact finding” mission, to better understand the reasons behind the No vote in our recent Lisbon Treaty referendum. And last Monday I was in the audience of Questions and Answers asking whether his visit would cause more harm than good. See here: Q And A. All of the panel were in agreement that Sarkozy should be welcomed, and had a reason and puropse in coming. My lonely voice pointed out that Sarko is ideoligically abrasive, and would cause more harm than good in coming to Ireland and meddling further.
And today, I was proved right. Making broad statements in relation to Ireland being required to have a second vote on the Treaty, in conjunction with the political games the French government were playing before polling day, will only serve to further alienate the Irish no voters from the European Union. Sarkozy is a self important mouthpiece, and even a scant glance at his political career should show us that his comments are often misinformed, and blatantly incorrect. His interference in what should be a national debate will only muddy the waters more, and in a campaign where many of the No sides arguments are at best misguided, and at worst misinformation, this extra layer of soundbyte-ery should not be welcomed.
Looking to comments made while Minister for the Interior in the aftermath of the shooting of 11-year-old in the La Courneuve in 2005, that he would clean the area with a Kracher, a brand of powerhose, while calling the residents of the troubled suburb scun was insensitive at best, and an incitement to hatred in most peoples eyes. He has been controversially chatty in relation to genetic predispositions to paedophilia, and depression, the seperation (or reintegration) of church and state, and has rather racist views on Africa, and oddly patriotic attitudes to France and Frenchness, not in themselves bad things, but the way he uses and abuses the idea of nationalism is often a mask for other more sinister ends.
So, Sarko, you need to be aware that people in Ireland hold you in comparable esteem as a sizable minority of your own voters, that is not much. Keep your opinions to figuring out why French voters rejected the Constitution and try not to scupper any chances of a proper national discussion here.
