By an impressive majority, Irish voters rejected one of those European Union treaties that is designed to empower unelected elites. Those elites insisted that the treaty would do nothing of the sort and that "groups opposed to the treaty successfully played on people's fears it would mean a loss of national sovereignty."
Well, perhaps those people's fears were validated when they looked across the way at Scotland where the EU bureaucrats took it upon themselves to regulate the volume at which bagpipers may play their instruments.
Ian Hughes, head of the RAF Leuchars band at an airbase in Fife, claimed the new legislation in effect outlawed bagpipe playing for the first time in more than 250 years.
The last time was after the Jacobite rising of 1745 and the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s clansmen at the battle of Culloden.
Busybodies who would regulate the playing of bagpipes would certainly feel justified in taking away the competitive economic advantages the Irish have enjoyed thanks to (among other things)
unusually low business tax rates, a major reason why 600 U.S. companies have made their European homes in Ireland rather than France or Germany.
The EU would doubtless love to see all of its members merrily taxing away at the same high rates. After all it needs the money to pay the wages of those regulators who are doing such fine work protecting citizens from bagpipes played too loudly.
God bless Ireland.
Maybe it is once again time to shout "Up the Irish!" HoooRah!
Posted by: Lazarus Long | June 14, 2008 at 11:24 AM
Kudos to the Irish. Next time we are forced to reduce Europe to rubble I hope we have the good sense to leave it that way.
Posted by: GreggB | June 14, 2008 at 09:13 PM