The key factor in persuading the Irish electorate to ratify the Lisbon Treaty in the second referendum was the sense of vulnerability arising out of the economic crisis and the feeling that working with the rest of the European Union was the best solution, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said in Dublin today.
"The Irish decision to ratify Lisbon was influenced by the economic crisis," he told the annual international affairs conference at the Royal Irish Academy. But he lamented the obscurity of Euro-jargon and its acronyms as a barrier to effective communication.
Commenting on second Lisbon campaign, he said: "The key theme to emerge in the research was the sense of economic vulnerability, instability in people's personal lives and in terms of the country's future.
"In terms of the 'switcher", the person who changed from voting No the last time to Yes this time, the economic crisis was a big factor and had impact on the politics of Ireland's engagement with Europe.
"That does suggest though, for the future, that we have significant work to do re-engage with significant cohorts of our own population in terms of the European Union. A lot of the statistics that came out of the research into the last referendum indicate that those under 40 do not have the same enthusiasm as older generations would have for the European ideal."
He added: "The economic crisis had that impact and it was a very fundamental impact on the state of mind of the voter in Ireland and the sense that collectively working with our European colleagues actually was the best way out of the current crisis, that we couldn't do it on our own."
In a question-and-answer session, Rose Drea, a postgraduate student of International Relations at University College Cork, said that among her generation of 18-to 24-year olds, "nobody" knew what the referendum was about. "That is pretty sad for the future of the EU and Ireland," she said.
The Minister also complained about the use of esoteric acronyms such as Gaerc (General Affairs and External Relations Council) which is the forum where foreign ministers meet, and Coreper for the Committee of Permanent Representatives, made up of senior civil servants.
"Those of us who are practitioners keep using these goddamn phrases that convey an abstract sort of sense as to what this thing is all about, 'some sort of institutions over there'. That's a big challenge to Europe and we need to change that and I hope the rest of Europe will learn lessons from the Irish referendum."
Mr Martin said survey after survey had shown that "the underlying predisposition of Irish people towards Europe is positive, probably one of the most positive across Europe".
However, it was economic issues that dominated the second referendum campaign. "They didn't vote Yes to Lisbon on a newfound belief in the ideals and vision, I have to be straight up and say that's my observation," he said. "The biggest deficit of the European Union is its inability and its failure to communicate what it does, to its citizens."
Research on the first referendum had revealed that 59 per cent of the 25-34 age group voted No and in 18-24 age group the figure was 55 per cent.
This was the generation where participation in third-level education was at its highest. "What is that telling us about the younger generation that's coming up, and their engagement with Europe or their sense of the European Union?" Mr Martin asked.
