Word: irelands
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...large shopping mall that opened in Drogheda four years ago at the height of Ireland's economic boom, Aaron Hodgins' menswear store is completely empty. The 34-year-old manager recently laid off two staff members and is worried he may lose his own job soon if sales don't pick up. He'll be voting no for the second time on Oct. 2. "There are too many countries [in the E.U.] now, and we'd just be sucked into it. Ireland won't have a voice in Europe and we'll be right down the pecking order," he says...
...some opponents, who say the treaty will create an overly centralized E.U. and take away individual state decision-making powers, another no vote would give the unpopular government led by Prime Minister Brian Cowen's Fianna Fail Party its just deserts. Cowen's critics say that Fianna Fail squandered Ireland's wealth during the boom years and mishandled the country's economic recovery efforts. But it could also leave the E.U. reeling - officials fear a no vote could permanently sidetrack efforts to overhaul the aging institution...
Others in Drogheda believe that a more fully integrated E.U. can only help stem Ireland's economic malaise. The unemployment rate sits at over 11% - more than twice the figure at this time last year - and is expected to reach 15% by 2010. In addition, the country's Central Statistics Office said last week that more people are leaving Ireland than arriving for the first time in 14 years...
...Europe has been very good to Ireland," says Daly, the wine-store owner, who says he'll vote yes for a second time this week. Daly supplies wines to Drogheda's hotels and restaurants and says business has been "very tough" in the past year. "People may be unhappy with the government, but to punish them in the Lisbon vote would be the wrong thing to do. Being a member of the euro [currency zone] is what's got us through the crisis so far. I can't see Ireland surviving alone." (See 10 things you didn't know about...
...militarization," she says. "And I don't think the government has done anything to make the issues clearer." Many voters fear that defense arrangements in the treaty could lead to conscription of E.U. citizens into a new E.U. army. But the government has negotiated legal guarantees that would protect Ireland's military neutrality as well as its other laws, like its restrictions on abortion...