We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible. The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the right, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people. In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty; six times during the past three hundred years they have asserted it in arms. Standing on that fundamental right and again asserting it in arms in the face of the world, we hereby proclaim the Irish Republic as a Sovereign Independent State. And we pledge our lives and the lives of our comrades-in-arms to the cause of its freedom, of its welfare, and of its exaltation among the nations… In this supreme hour the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline and by the readiness of its children to sacrifice themselves for the common good, prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which it is called.

The seven signatories of the Irish Proclamation: Padraig Pearse, James Connolly, Thomas Clarke, Thomas MacDonagh, Sean MacDermott, Joseph Plunkett, and Eamonn Ceannt were executed for their efforts to secure a free Ireland.

Guido’s vote today will be cast against the Lisbon Treaty. Why, after so long a struggle and much spilt blood, swap subjugation to laws made in Westminster for undemocratic rule from Brussels?

Due to the foresight of the drafters of the Irish Constitution we are the only people in all of Europe to be asked if we wish to irrevocably concede our sovereignty. We won’t be asked again once the European superstate becomes a reality. Ireland was Europe’s first colony, we are now the last sovereign democracy. For ourselves and all those who have no voice, the Irish must say “No”.