Why should Ireland be lectured by France?

Today, the president of France, Mr Sarkozy, came to Dublin to meet with Taoiseach Brian Cowen. The official purpose of the visit has been described in Ireland as an attempt to "understand" the No vote in the recent Lisbon Treaty referendum. For Adsav!, the Breton People's Party, understanding that many people in Europe do not want more bureaucracy and less freedom should not be too difficult. There is little doubt, however, that this visit is primarily about finding ways to make the Irish people change their minds, or at least this is how it has been presented within French policy circles. This patronising approach is typical of the French way: the State comes before the people. What is more difficult to understand, however, is the reason why any nation should accept to be lectured by France. As some Irish people may know, Sarkozy's France is, more than ever before in recent times, a bully of small nations. The small nations that live within the fence of the French 'pale'-- including four to five million Celtic Bretons -- enjoy no political or cultural liberties and cannot speak for themselves through referenda. Is this the brilliant model that the French president is trying to promote at EU level?

We will see what comes out of today's meetings. Let us hope for the future of both Ireland and Brittany that the contemptuous attitude of France will only meet defiance in Dublin.

Frederig ar Bouder Adsav!, Strollad pobl vreizh party leader