Mr. Joe Noonan:

I am not sure about that. First, the triple lock was put into the legislation in 1960, was well understood and we had experience of living with it. When it came under question during the development of the EU to take on a greater military identity, which was being promoted by big powers, which was in conflict with the Irish position and which conflict had to be resolved initially, through the Crotty case and then the referendum amendments, and we could always see further language being stitched into the treaties continuing to bring the Union in that direction, it was against that backdrop that the solemn assurances were given in the Seville Declaration and the Nice treaty at the time upon which people relied when they cast their votes. The importance of that has to be underlined, understood and candidly accepted. We cannot just turn our eyes away from that. That was the basis on which people cast their votes, and similarly in the Lisbon treaty. Now we are being told, I think correctly, by the Attorney General that that does not carry weight but it carries political weight.