Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

The idea that it was the arguments of the "No" side that led to the passing of the referendum is an interesting analysis. It gives little credit to the arguments of the "Yes" side and is not borne out by the facts. The polls showed that the percentages on the "Yes" and "No" sides did not shift from the beginning of the campaign to the end. It looks as though the arguments pretty much cancelled each other out, from the beginning to the end. Deputy White made an interesting political jibe but it does not stand up to scrutiny or to the evidence of polls taken consistently from the beginning to the end of the campaign.

The issue was always the fear of the consequences of voting "No". The Government and the "Yes" side traded on fear of the unknown, of the dire consequences of funds not being available to the State, of money not coming out of ATM machines and of pensions and social welfare not being paid. That is the message the Government gave and that ordinary people got. It is the message canvassers heard on the doorsteps from people who were intending to vote "Yes". They were afraid. Fear was whipped up relentlessly by the "Yes" side throughout the campaign. A significant proportion of those who voted "Yes" did so with a heavy heart because they were angry at being asked to carry the can for the crimes of others in the Irish financial and political systems and for the greed of developers, speculators and others. They voted "Yes" with a heavy heart because they were afraid of the consequences of a "No" vote.

There were mixed opinions on the "No" side, but the United Left Alliance has a clear alternative. Unlike the Government and the "Yes" side, we do not promise ridiculous fairytales such as investment, stability and certainty. No one can promise those. We did not promise them. The "Yes" side did.

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