At 9.20am on a Friday back in June 2008, just 20 minutes after vote counting had begun, it began to dawn on us that we might win the referendum. For the next several hours, as counting continued, we gradually got used to the idea of victory. That evening the Irish prime minister announced to a shocked political classand incensed EU leaders that Ireland had voted against the Lisbon Treaty.In terms of the rules, which required ratification by all member states, this meant the treaty — and with it, the new Constitution for Europe — had to be abandoned.The media and establishment responded in much the same way as they have done in the past two weeks. Just as the 17m Brexiters have been dismissed as rabid racists who want nothing to do with progress or integration, Ireland’s “No” camp were vilified as rabid, small-minded Catholics who wanted to retreat into the past and be controlled by the Vatican, not Brussels. And of course the “No” camp was also dominated by sinister old people livin...
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