On their own

The results of the referendum held on June 12 on the accession of Ireland to the Lisbon Treaty were perplexed and focused on European officials and politicians. However, the result of the vote - 53.4% ​​of Irish voters against the contract, which was called upon to replace the European Constitution, previously rejected in referenda in the Netherlands and France - will hardly surprise the person who at least once in his life in this country and talked with the Irish themselves.

Figa in the urn

The electoral behavior of voters sometimes presents surprises, which are extremely difficult to explain. It would seem that the authorities of the Irish Republic did everything so that the results of the referendum to join the country to the Lisbon Treaty contribute to the process of European integration. The Prime Minister and leader of the ruling Party "Fianna File" Brian Cowen, the head of the opposition "Finhe Gale" End Kenny and the leader of the Labor Labor Imon Gilmore, even for the first time gave a joint press conference, at which they tried to convince voters to vote for the Lisbon Agreement. “For a generation that will determine the future of Ireland in the next decades, there will be no voting more important than the present,” Brian Cowen called by the Irish. And in the end, the Irish authorities found themselves in an awkward position in front of the European Union bureaucracy, and the Irish “fig in the pocket” caused real political hysteria among especially retreating European integrators, such as France President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In the minds of European integrators who bear the more closely uniting Europe, goods wrapped in blue with sprockets of the panel, the electoral behavior of the Irish looked like a real absurdity. Immediately there were anecdotal versions: "Guinness", they say, the Irish drank. The versions are funny, but not explaining anything. The Irish had no reason to digest on the eve of the referendum, and they are still noticeably inferior to the French and Italians by the use of alcohol.

But in the media that appeared in the media to explain the behavior of the Irish at the past referendum to the special role of the Catholic Church, it seems, there is a sound grain. For example, the leading researcher at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences Nikolai Bukharin believes that "the Catholic country is wary of the liberties that exist in continental Europe." The Irish, having voted against the Lisbon version of Euroconstitution, thus insured against the liberal ideology of the United Europe.

But the "conservative-catholic" version does not find obvious confirmation. On the contrary, formally the church advocated the ratification of the contract, and the Archbishop of Dublin categorically rejected the fears that the agreement could weaken strict Irish laws regarding abortion and euthanasia. In reality, the situation is somewhat more complicated. The words of the archbishop can be explained by the traditions of relations between Christian churches and the state. And of course, it is impossible to imagine an organized intervention of the clergy in the process of political agitation against the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.

However, everyone who imagines what a Christian parish is, understands that the words spoken by the priest personally, in an informal situation, are much more important for the parishioner than what is said to preach from the amvon. According to statics, 95% of the Irish consider themselves Catholics. Not all of them visit Sundays, but temples are by no means empty. And the church as an institution for the Irish - more than just a religious cult, a set of rites or following a tradition. This is also a way of ethnic self -identification. Wherever the Irishman lives, he is in addition to be a Catholic. As President John Kennedy or one of the founding fathers of the United States Patrick Henry. It so happened. And historically, the British also tried, pursuing a policy of infringing on the Catholic Church. One of the Irish bishops said that the Church does not act as a group that exerted pressure on the government, it intervenes in the affairs of the state from higher positions, since the Church is this defender of moral law and it interprets it. So what is an updated European legislation for a believing Irish Catholic compared to those laws about which St. Patrick?

Having voted against the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, the Irish showed that there are more important ideas for them than the ideas of globalization and the European association. No, the Irish have nothing against it, but they argue something like that as Professor Preobrazhensky reasoned: "Let the proletarians of all countries connect, but not in my apartment." The establishment, of course, is forced to follow the European political conjuncture. For example, the country entered the euro zone.

But the Irish government acts with an eye on the opinion of the inhabitants and does not at all imply pursuing an open door. You have to knock on these doors for a long time. A simple example. The state pursues a tough immigration policy, one of the most tough in the European Union. Ireland did not sign the Schengen agreement. In order to receive the most ordinary tourist visa to Ireland, it is necessary to present documents confirming the availability of real estate to the embassy, ​​a certificate from the place of work on the size of the salary, an extract from the bank account, which is desirable at least two thousand euros, and reservation from the hotel in Ireland. Then there will be a phone call from the embassy with a polite question about the purpose of the visit. And then at the Dublin airport, an official of visa control will be interested in which hotel you are going to stop for a long time.

The Irish are insured against illegal immigration and strictly regulate the legal immigration. The results of this policy can be seen on city streets. If in London, looking at passers -by, you are lost in conjectures where you got to Cairo, in Islamabad, or to the Southern Bronx, and only Victorian buildings along the streets save from the splitting of consciousness - this is not in the dublin. Here you feel like a European in a European city. There is no problem of illegal immigrants here. And there is no intrusive propaganda in the media the significance of attracting labor resources from abroad. The state protects its labor market. Protects him "for his own." For some reason, the Irish made an exception only to the Poles. There are a lot of them in Dublin. One of the first questions that I was asked at the hotel after presenting the Russian passport: "Do you mean Polish?" Then I realized that in secularized Europe, only Poles and Irish remained good Catholics.

Two loneliness met.

About Ireland - with love

Despite the entire passport-visa bureaucracy, my tongue will not turn to call the Irish are isolationists. I have not met more hospitable, friendly and sociable people. They always want to tell something about something. And not just to anyone, namely, to the new person who arrived from afar. The seller of the music store - about the new discs with the local ethnofilk, serving the small railway station - about the train schedule in all possible directions, the old man in the pub - about how he worked as a car mechanic all his life. The guide in Irish cities is not needed. Just sit in a taxi. The taxi driver will talk about eternal Irish rains and traffic jams on the road, about all the sights that are on the way, as well as about those that have not come across on the road, but they should look.

In the city of Gelue, the taxi driver will mention the last mass that Columbus served in this city, going to look for the way to India; In the city of Drahad - about seven kilometers from the city of dolmens, which are three thousand years older than the Egyptian pyramids; In Dublin - about museums and churches, but at the same time about Gaelian football, which is not at all like football, "invented by these British", and therefore unloved by the Irish ... People here simply love to talk about their lives. Without any pathos. Only in all these stories it seems to be heard: "How does the homeland begin ...".

Irish do without lessons of patriotic education in school programs. History is transmitted in the form of oral tradition, just as a thousand years ago were transmitted from the mouth to the mouth of the legend about the hero of the epic of Kukhulin. Each Irishman knows which of his relatives emigrated to the United States in the 19th century due to constant hunger, which resulted in the result of British agrarian policy in Ireland; He remembers which of the relatives were shot by English soldiers. The memory of the past could not help but determine the choice - the Irish were once integrated into the British empire, they remember this, know the price of sovereignty and the price of their "features". Therefore, they cherish her.

One example of such a "feature" is the attitude to the Gelian Irish language. Despite the centuries -old violent introduction of English, the language has been preserved. In the 1937 Constitution, Galik was declared the first state language, his mandatory study was introduced in schools and universities. When admitted to the civil service, they preferred those who owned Gaelsky. That is, this is not about the restoration and spread of the ancient dead language, as was the case with Hebrew in Israel, but about the growth of the popularity of the language, which was preserved by the people as an element of culture, as a sign of ethnicity. Yes, the Gaul Irish did not become the language of James Joyce, however, the “commemoration of Finnegan” is the origin of the popular folk song, inspired by the writer, one of those songs that now, like during Joyce, sing in pubs throughout the country, from the Dublin Arbat - Temple Bar Street to the last rural pub. The good half of these songs is performed in the Gelian Irish.

The revival of the language does not have the character of a political campaign. The use of English is not condemned. But in the country there are more and more bilingual plates with the name of streets, institutions and settlements with inscriptions in English and in Gel. On the railway, the drivers declare the names of the stations in English, and the names of the stations on the tablets are in two languages. Marking on Dublin streets - on Galik. It is written in detail where to turn and where you need to stop to skip a pedestrian. The country begins to speak its own language, and it is pulled into some kind of "united Europe" ...

"Do not give Irish freedom"

The only political force that was organized against the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty was the opposition party "Shinn Fane" - the political wing of the Irish Republican Army. The party leader Jerry Adams publicly urged "not to give Irish freedom for which so many people died."

Of course, there is a lot of superficial around Shinn Feyn, but it seems that the party leadership does not bother this. This is the same image, it is part of the Irish culture. In Dublin, you should go to Shinn Feyn Shop - a store opposite one of the most popular pubs - Patrick Conway. The shops sell books on Irish political history, adams memoirs, and also a heap of discs with Irish folk music and t -shirts with the image of armed people in masks and inscriptions "Ira". Tourists like it. They take it willingly. And the Irish themselves are very interested in the surroundings. Rather, they are interested in the position of "Shinn Fane". Probably, most voters perceived Adams as a signal. Not out of love for terrorists, but because for most Irish, wherever they live, in the country or beyond, Ira and Shinn Feyn are those guys who are concerned about the country's main political problem - the problem of reuniting with Northern Ireland. Therefore, the words of Adams turned out to be more significant than the entire Europropaganda of government officials and parties, and the desire to remain the Irish was stronger than the desire to acquire some good for a simple voter, promised by the Lisbon Treaty. By the way, "Shinn Fayne" in translation from Galik means "we are on our own." More briefly, the reason that the Irish preferred to remain the Irish, and not become citizens of the united Europe, perhaps, no one will be able to.