Welfare to emigrants

The government is going to relax laws that limit emigrants entitlements to social welfare. This is a good move as many people who come here with skills often lose there jobs due to various circumstances and then do not have the money to survive while they look for another job. This would lead too increased levels of crime and the loss of skilled workers to the economy.

The Reaction to the IRA act.

I could go and detail what has been said but really I don't think there would be much need. The reaction is as expected and accurately predicted by unitedirelander. Just looking true my posts on the North to see if my attitudes have changed somewhat. all-bullets-all-ounces.html. About Loyalist Rioting The murals and U.K deportation law Columbia three The great northern struggle Getting over history About photographic evidence About media controlling the people in the North I think they have remained the same. Its funny just reading various blogs on the web . Some people don't really know the History of the troubles. Come to think of it is that why its gone on too long people in the North know there history.

All the Bullets all the Ounces

Over 10 years ago the Ira declared a ceasefire. They claimed that not a bullet not an ounce would be lost. Now it seems that they have changed there minds. Tomorrow it is going to be annoced that the IRA have decommission all there weapons. This really is an unprecedented step and one I thought I might never see in my life time. In fact it comes with curious timing. 8 months ago after Robert McCartney it looked like the republicans had lost the PR battle that the movement was going to face a downturn in support from the own community. Now after this and the annocement of an end to fighting and the Loyalist rioting it looks like they have pulled another PR miracle out of the bag. The Unionist now are the people that are looking bad. If they come out tomorrow with a statement of disbelief they will lose a lot of support on the world stage. However if they say well done they will lose a lot of there own support. It will be interesting to see who Paisley will play it. Knowen for saying "NO" he will have to make some concessions so as not to lose what little support he has in Britain but to many and he could go the way of Trimble. Sinn Féin want to be in power in the south, that would be impossible with the IRA in tow. However if we in the south want the Unionist to go into power with Sinn Féin and yet we are selves arn't willing to do the same. Does that not make us guilty of double standards? But this should be looked on as more then a publicity stunt. It is a major stepforwardd and one I must welcome. This could be the start of a peaceful existence on these islands and then end to centuries of sectarian violence. If people are willing to imbrace it and it is true. Technorati tags Sinn Fein Decommisioning IRA

Green Party in power with Fianna Fail

I have heard that at a green party meeting in NUI Galway. Trevor Sargent said that the party would not enter government with FF under his control. So those this mean the Green party are throwing there weight behind the Fine Gael Labour coalition or that there is a divide in the party with one section willing to work with Fianna Fail and the other led by Mr Sargent not willing to. This would leave the Fine Gael/Green/Labour coalition in a strong place according to the Sunday business Poll I talked about here They have stated

that the party will contest the next general election as an independent party without any voting pacts with other parties

How ever they have also stated they want to get Fianna Fail/PD's out of power. Which would seem to suggest that they are nailing there colours to the Blue and Red of Fine Gael Labour. However an interesting aspect of the various Green Party statements is that they target alot of energy at the PD's. If Mr Sargents statement is true and going to be followed. Then this would seem to suggest that the Green Party see the PD's as there rival. Is this a sign that they are scared a Fine Gael/Labour Coalition might chose the PD's who may have more seats instead of the Greens as partners?.Or is it just the age old left wing right wing battles? Interesting enough the PD's focus alot of energy on Sinn Fein. Are they scared that Fianna Fail might pick Sinn Fein instead of the PD's? The small party battles could get interesting this election.

They will counterfit anything these days

When you here of fake goods being seized it it usually in the form of DVD's or cigerattes. But it seems this is being expanded to include DAZ What is the world coming to. Whats next Guinness. Ohh now thats a scary thought

The Order

In Ireland today a title with the order can only mean two things. The orange or the Groceries order.Now to tell ye the truth I don't really understand the groceries order in fact I probably understand the Orange Order more. But my perception of the order is that is was brought in to protect Mrs Coffey's Corner shop. (Even thought Mrs Coffey's wasn't on a corner). This is indeed a noble aim. Much of the people who are consumed in Hobbism.(I think I should try and get this word into the English language for a laugh but also it could be an interesting word to describe a new way of political agitation that may arise in the rest of the century) are the people who work and have cars. Now what will happen if large retailers come into the market at far lower prices then the local shop is that people with cars will abandon the local shops to a greater extent, put them out of business and the people in the small villages in rural Ireland without cars the young the old and the poor will be left without the ability to shop easily. With the poor transport in this country that is only getting worse and more expense. Also communities are not as strong as they used to be. With the changing of villages into commuter villages for the main urban centers and both parents working. People no longer know there neighbor's. Ask yourself can you name the people in the 5 houses nearest to you. There will no longer be the house wife/husband willing to drive there elderly neighbor to the shops to by bread and milk. These people will be even in a worse state then without the order. This has happened in Britain it will happen here. People point out that it hasn't happened in the North. But due to the troubles there community has always been close knit. But the day of the corner shop is numbered anyway with the growth of the Mace's Spar's and Centras. They use the power of bulk purchasing to out prices there small village competitors but as they are in small shops they charge more then the likes of Dunnes. So whatever the government do the small shop is going to go away and the poor and old will suffer.

What party are you.

See what party follows your issues

Are GAA players, artists entitled to tax exemption

I was watching an episode of Yes minister the other day. Where the minister wanted to demolish an unsuccessful and unwanted art gallery to finance a loan to rescue the local soccer team. Sir Humphrey thought this was a bad idea as it might set a precedent of closing art galleries to finance sports stadiums and the royal opera house could even lose funding to Wembley. The minister reply was why shouldn’t funds be diverted for the Royal Opera House. The Royal Opera House just plays Mozart Bach Puccini, German Austrian Italian culture not British and nor is it for the people as it is too small to house enough people and it is too difficult for normal people to get tickets. In fact he contending the funding of the arts was merely indulging the middle class (including the civil servants like his adviser who as going to the opera that night) and why shouldn’t they do something (funding the local soccer club) that the majority of people wanted. He also said that the people who go to the Opera House are rich anyway and can afford to pay for it. Now at the end of the show after clearing the tears of laughter from my eyes (I wouldn’t spoil the ending). It got me thinking about this. One of the most controversial policies in Ireland is the tax exemptions for artists. It was introduced in 1969 by Haughey. The basic idea behind this was to help struggling artists keep producing art and not having to give up there work due to financial pressures. This might be a noble aim for a struggling artists but the controversy comes when U2 a band that earns millions each year pays zero direct tax (As Eddie Hobbs would point they would pay a lot of stealth taxes) . Surly this is an abuse of the system. Bono is never going to have to give up rock music due to financial pressures so why should he benefit from this policy. The aim of it is to keep artistry in the public domain and to keep alive an Irish culture of artistry. To make sure the next Yeats Kavanagh, Synge doesn’t stop writing. But think about it what was Yeats Kavanagh and Synges addition to Irish culture. Strictly speaking there greatest works were in English. One could argue that we are an English speaking culture and that is our identity and the source of our economic prosperity and this is true. But is writing in English furthering Irish culture to a greater extent then Sean Ó Halpin captaining Cork to the All-Ireland. Yet they and our current crop of artists get a better deal then Sean Óg Ó Halpin. But the Tax breaks aren’t the only the benefit they get from there art. They can also sell there art and thus benefit from there time financially. The Cork hurlers don’t receive any money from there time. In fact the time and effort they put into there sport impinges on there normal working lives and there is an actual loss in monies due to loss of potential overtime. The loss is probably even greater for players outside the main counties. The likes of Tipperary goalie Brendan Cummins get to appear in advertisements and use there fame won on the pitch to get some enumeration for there lost time. But how about someone who plays hurling for Mayo. Someone who puts in hours of there time for little or no reward. No one knows who they are they are not going to get to advertise Club Energise and no offence to any Mayo readers they are never going to win anything. Or members of the female Gaelic football and Camoige players who often don’t even get the same respect as their male counterparts If we look at Gaelic sports there are places where they are popular and places where it is not. Kilkenny doesn’t field a Gaelic Football team, and many counties don’t support the Hurling teams. In these counties the art of hurling is dieing out. Surely the reason for the special tax status was to stop the demise of some arts and parts of our culture and yet possibly the most uniquely Irish thing after our language, hurling is being aloud to die by the government in certain areas. So what makes Bono and artists who not only works in international mediums but also are commercially successful more in need of special tax status then a struggling Mayo hurler. Does the question come back to the argument made by the minister that the government and civil service who are primarily middle class care more about the “sophisticated” arts such as theatre and music and think they deserve more funding and support then sport. Bertie Ahern’s image is that of a man of the people. He drinks pints of Bass in his local and appears at many matches in Croke Park or Landsdowne Road. Also there is now a minister for sport a position that was created in 1997 but the minister of the arts was established 4 years earlier in 1993. Now however since 2002 The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism has been inexistence. Its stated mission is

to contribute to the economic, social and cultural progress of Irish society and the enrichment of its quality of life through promoting sustainable tourism; encouraging excellence in sporting and artistic achievement; facilitating greater access to sport and the arts; and preservation of our cultural inheritance".

isn't Gaelic Games our cultural inheritance. The Abbey theatre is the historic location of Arts in this Country. It was started by W.B Yeats and Lady Geogory back in 1904. It is being moved to a new location on Geogre’s dock at a cost of €170 million euros this figure may or not entirely come from the public coffers but a significant portion will. (As Eddie Hobbs would point out the government record for staying on budget isn't great.)Compare this to the €40 milllion extremely controversial donation to Croke Park. Which has the greatest benefit to the people in Ireland. To someone from Kerry where are they most likely go Croke Park or the Abbey theatre. Invariable a performance in the Abbey Theatre is going to happen during the night. This will require the person to remain over night in Dublin. This alone is an extremely expensive cost. The Abbey is currently in financial trouble and the government is bailing it out. Another organisation in financial is Shamrock Rovers. Shamrock Rovers is one of the historically a major forces in Irish soccer and yet there is no financial support for them. There is the argument that they are a commercial operation and should rise or fall due to market forces. This argument is valid but if this argument is also to be applied to the Abbey shouldn’t they rise and fall by market forces. Also if anyone tries to makes the foreign games argument they would want to prove that Sean O’ Casey’s main work was in English. The arts is a vital part of a countries culture and due to the fact that not a lot of people like visiting an art gallery or the theatre of a Saturday market forces alone are not going to keep places like the Abbey and artists in financial security. Thus we need these people to be given a helping hand from the government. But also un-paid sports players and particularly GAA players give as much commitment to there art for zero government benefit they too deserve tax incentives.We are moving into a more materialistic age in Ireland, pride in the jearsy wouldn't keep the level of participation going much longer. So a financial incentive is need and a professional GAA is not fessible. Imagine of the same tax being paid by accountants as trainee accountants would people be so tolerant of it Now however this is not the case we have millionaires like Bono not paying any income tax and then complaining about the government not spending 0.7 GDP on foreign aid. Its easy for him to say not one cent of it will come from his pay packet.

Petrol Prices Ireland

I have created a new blog at http://irishpetrol.blogspot.com/ basicaly what i want to do is make a place where people can added the cheapest place to buy petrol in there local area. Or check up where the cheapest place is. So if you know the cheapest place in your area please added it to the site. Thanks

Bloggers on the Belfast Riots.

Slugger o'Toole is the main source of views on the conflict. He points out that someone posting on the Love Ulster site knew about the attachs earlier also there is much debate here and here and lists of blocked roads are here United Irelander says The Orange Order are a force of evil in Ireland's north. And it's time for them to disband. A TANGLED WEB Argues that the right to process along certain roads and streets in Northern Ireland is established by whoever threatens the greatest level of violence. Ulster Young Unionists Council say that Hain is So is Hain a) engaging in stand-up comedy b) assuming we are just plain stupid c) just plain stupid himself d) a bare-faced hypocrite or e) reading from a script prepared by Adams, Kelly & co? Ciarán at not in differnet not specptical Talks about what he can see from his windown in Belfast on Sunday night. John on big ulsterman states Unionism must change from unionism with the English to unionism with northern Irish Catholics Everything ulster says

Since this group have shown ill-regard for the laws of the United Kingdom, as assented to by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, I feel that it is inappropriate to refer to them as loyalists. They are clearly loyal to nothing and act solely on their own twisted self-pity and a false sense of victimhood.

Balrog states

Unionism needs to specify what they mean, for the majority of the Nationalist and Republican family Unionism bemoaning about concessions is basically Unionism resisting equality.

Res publica says this disproves the theory of loyalism being reactionary to republican violence Paul at N. Irish Magyar . questions how genuine unionist were the organisers of this weekends events and wonders is it time to bring back internment. If ye know any other blogs worth adding to this. please add a comment.

The dark days.

Are the dark days of the troubles coming back. With the IRA announcing there intention to decommission and the lack of any Drumcree stand off. It appeared that the worst was over and with the winning of the world cup qualifier over England it seemed that a time of new hope was beginning. However this seem to have been a veil covering over the deep unrest in the Loyalist camp. But what are the causes of this renewed violence. When I was in Belfast earlier this month all seemed well even though the Union Jacks were flying on the lampposts the atmosphere wasn’t contentious. The sun was shinning and sitting in the Botanic Gardens one would not think that this was a place where violence of the scale seen this weekend would occur. Friends of mine from the south were even telling me of going out to have a gander at the local orange parade on the Lisburn Road. However this was in middle class south Belfast and student land. With the entire conflict of the north the loyalist conflict has never been fought in the leafy suburbs of the Malone Road it has had its origins and derived its power from the shankil, sandy row and the other working class areas of Belfast. Yet again it is these areas that have descended into violence. The initial spark was the re-routing of the controversial Whiterock parade on Saturday. But is it solely due to this march that this trouble has started?. According to Slugger O'Toole people knew this was comming. Speaking on BBC Northern Ireland when questioning one of the leaders of the Orange Order a person off the street said that they should have let the march through and it would only last 10 minutes. The ruling

Having considered all the evidence, information and advice available to it, the Commission takes the view that it is necessary to curtail part of the parade’s notified route, and it has therefore placed conditions on the parade. This decision is set against the background of continuing local community tension. It recognises the real possibility of damaging community relations with a consequent effect on the likelihood of public disorder should the parade proceed along the entirety of its notified route. Whilst recognising the fundamental importance of the right to freedom of assembly, the Commission finds it necessary to exercise its powers under Section 8 of the Public Processions (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 to place restrictions on the parade.

So it was known by the parades commission that tension would be raised but there job is to asses which route outcome will create the least bad will between the communities and even though the violence in Belfast is the worst in years. It has remained only on one side. This situation must have been difficult to see. The question now is why has the loyalist people start fighting with the police. One thing that has been noted is the lack of condemnation for the unionist community. True the majority are condemning the violence but they come across as saying it is justified. as pointed out by Comrade Stalin on Slugger

I've just seen footage on the BBC of a guy on the Shankill who had his shop burnt out. He refused to blame the people who set it on fire, and instead pinned the responsibility on Hain and the Parades Commission. Clearly he felt that the destruction of his own livelihood was a price worth paying.

Why is this why are they insistent on blaming everyone except themselves. This is not just a Loyalist disease this appears on the Nationalist side as well. But the difference being no McCartney sisters have come out on the loyalist side. Secretary of State Peter Hain has come out and given out about the response of all the major political parties in the North and rightly so. Each party is trying to spin the violence to suit there own needs to further there own cause. The Unionist claiming that is due to dissatisfaction with the peace process. This will not bring peace this is only going to further increase the tensions in Belfast. But all this does not answer the question of why the rioting is occurring. Personnel I blame the parties. They use the people as pawns in there grand game of chess. How can the PSNI police these areas when the DUP undermines the state with statements such as Nigal Dodds today

The Secretary of State has disempowered unionism by his constant appeasement of Sinn Fein/IRA and his constant rejection of unionist political demands for fair treatment.

Trying to blame the government for the trouble and Sinn Fein's refusal to recognise the PSNI undermines the police in the nationalist community. This leads to fewer nationalists choosing the police as a career and why it is still predominantly protestant. Today Minister for Social Development visited Lower Oldpark one of the most deprived places in the North. This visit was to highlight the need for investment in the area. But not content with having some one see what has needed to be done. The Shankill DUP Councilor Diane Dodds stated

For years successive direct rule ministers have used these communities as pawns in the appeasement process of IRA/Sinn Fein. It is time they wakened up to the depth of alienation and deprivation within communities such as the Lower Oldpark. There can be no meaningful political process whilst this level of fury continues within unionist and protestant areas. It is now up to the Secretary of State and the Minister for Social Development to show real political leadership, stop the gravy train of concessions to the IRA and address the concerns of ordinary decent people within the unionist community.

She couldn’t make a point with out blaming IRA/Sinn Fein this kind of speech is what convinces people that they are in a battle of survival with the nationalist. This is telling them the reason you are poor is the government’s treatment of the IRA/Sinn Fein and by association the nationalist community. In every other country this kind of sentiment in would be represented by dislike of the wealth. Claiming about the tax breaks etc they get. But in the north the rich receive no ill wind from the poor it is your opposite number on the other side of the sectarian divide that you blame and thus we have the troubles where working class unionists fought working class Nationalists. Today’s conflict is just more examples of the political parties manipulation of the proletariat. technoarti Picture From http://photobucket.com/albums/v722/Crispo/

2007 Election

So in a post Eddie Hobbs Ireland who will be in power in 2007. With Eddie Hobbs doing more damage to the government then the opposition did in 8 years the composision of the next government or not clear. In The Sunday post poll the parties stand at Fianna Fail 32% Fine Gael 25% Labour 13% Sinn Fein 10% Green Party 6% PD’s 4% and Others at 10% Compared to the last general election this is a 10% drop for Fianna Fail, 2% rise for Fine Gael 2% rise for Labour 3% rise for Sinn Fein 2% rise for the Green Party no change for the PD’s and 1% loss for the others. So what does all these figures mean?

Well if we look at the various combinations of coalitions.

This gives

Fianna Fail/PDs 36%
. Fine Gael/Labour 38%
Fianna Fail/Labour 45%
Fine Gael/Labour/Green 44%
Fine Gael/Labour/PD 42%
Fianna Fail/Sinn Fein 42%
Fine Gael/Labour/Sinn Fein 48%
Fianna Fail/Green 38%

So which combination will be in power in 2007.

In the current climate of post-Rip off Republic Ireland the obvious choice would be the opposition. However the opposition seems unable to capture the publics’ imagination. The government is in a torrid situation. With confidence dropping with no sign of picking up from the local Election defeats it looks like the government have lost the support of the people. But are the opposition capitalising on this.

The answer in my opinion is no. Since the election and this poll the government has lost 10% of the vote. While the opposition collation of Fine Gael Labour have only gained 4%. With the levels of disenchantment with the government this gain is not good enough. This gain is merely due to the fact that they are the opposition and if you don’t vote Fianna Fail you have to vote someone else. The Fianna Fail 10% loss is spread fairly across the entire opposition. Fine Gael and Labour or not giving a via alternative to draw disenchanted voters away from Fianna Fail an exercise one could equate to shooting fish in a barrel but Enda Kenny and co One of the main parties that is drawing votes away is the green party. Even though they are 6% this 6% would be very concentrated in the urban centres. There vote is probably the most concentrated of any of the parties.This can be seen in the election results where they hold 6 seats to the PDs 8. So this could mean they will get less then 6% of the seats.

This can be touted as good for a Fine Gael /Labour /Green party coalition. But the green party still has not explicitly stated that they will form a coalition with Fine Gael and Labour. Also Labours key support is in Dublin City this is the place they wish to make the main gains in the next election. However they are going to be in direct competition for many of the same voters as the green party. So instead of creating a larger combination of voters Labour and the green party might just create a in fight between the parties splitting their vote and letting Fianna Fail PD’s and Sinn Fein sneak up the middle and take marginal seats in Dublin.

So it looks like if the present situation continues of ineffective opposition and ineffective government we could be heading to a hung Dail where Fine Gael/Labour/Green Party wouldn’t hold the 84 seats need to be stably in power. So are there any other options.

The PD’s have already signalled that the are willing to join with a non-Fianna Fail Party . Also with the poll showing no change in the PD vote it seems that if they don’t mess up and Michael McDowell keeping PD’s credibility high it is likely they might come out of the election with little change in their mandate with some seats lost and others gained. However will they have enough seats to make or break a government it is not clear. The likelihood of a Fine Gael/Labour/PDs coalition is possible but if the Greens and the PDs have the same amount of seats the greens could be preferred choice of Labour and Fine Gael.

Sinn Fein it seems would hold the balance of power. But will any party do into power with them. True the decommission process could be finished but will this change the majority peoples opinion that they shouldn’t be government. Time will only tell. This is particular situation is difficult to predict as it will be very dependent on the unpredictable Northern Peace process. However the most likely party they will join with would be Fianna Fail as they share similar ideologies. This coalition however would not include the PD’s and it is difficult to see any other third party joining this coalition. This coalition might require one or two independents to survive. However Sinn Fein crave power in the South and if they can work with the DUP in a government they will surely be willing to work with Fine Gael. The question is will Fine Gael be willing to work with them. If it is the difference between power and opposition then they may well sign up with Sinn Fein. But if cases such as Robert McCartney and Joesph Rafferty keep popping linking Sinn Fein with crime it might make Sinn Fein in government a non-runner even if they hold the balance of power

The most stable coalition is Labour and Fianna Fail even though Pat Rabbitee has nailed his colours to the Fine Gael mast. There are others in the party that would be willing to form a collation with Fianna Fail. Whether Pat Rabbitee would still be head of the party in this Scenario will probably depend on Labours performance in the election. If they cannot vastly increase there seats then Pat Rabbitee could be out and Brendan Howelin into a Fianna Fail Coalition. Personal this seems the most likely coalition with a stable workable majority. Weather this collation would also contain the PDs is dependent on the amount of seats Labour / Fianna Fail have. There are holes appearing in this coalition relationship over such things as café bars. So unless they are needed I can’t see Fianna Fail keeping the PD’s.

But one thing that could tilt the voters back towards Fianna Fail is the maturing of the SSIA's. THis is predicted to pour €14 billion into the economy. This is going to boost the econmic outlook of the country and with people having money to spend at this point in time they might feel that the Rip offs were a thing of the past and vote Fianna Fail back in on a tyed of satisfaction. This could be the factor that decided the election if it is close.

So at this point of time who will form the government. It looks like we are heading for a hung Dail and the name of the next Taoiseach being difficult to predict. But one thing that seems likely at the moment is that if Fine Gael end up in power. It will be because Fianna Fail lost it rather then Fine Gael/Labour winning it.But with a year and a half left until the election. Anything can happen.

7 year old murders

Justice Minister Michael McDowel wishes to amend the children's act to make it possible to convict 7 year olds of murder. Know this seems a bit extreme. Surly they are still kids. But the question still remains if a person commits a crime should they be punished regardless of age. Now the most famous case of under age murder was that ofJamie Bulger. In this case both his killers were aged 10 and under Irish law would have been free. Is this right. No I don't think it is these kids committed a Crime and should have paid. Now there is an argument that under 12 they wouldn't know what they are doing. But the fact remains they did it and that most point out that there is something not right with them. Weather jail terms is the answer is another question. But there is something wrong in there environment that causes them to do these things. Weather it is the society they live in or there parents they need to be removed from the bad influences and get to live in a place where they will get to see what is right and wrong. This is not juvenile detention centers. The statistic's show that in North America 96% reoffended in Britain 88% and 41% in Australia. This shows that Juvenile centers do not work. But is there any alternative. Should kids be taken from there families and put into foster care in a different city or county. Is that fair is it even constitutional. Would it even work. I agree with McDowel reducing the age to 7. At that age kids are impressionable and can be lead into a life of crime or a life of law abiding easily it is just dependent on both the parents and the society they live in. At the age of 12 it can be to late. But I think an alternative to juvenile detention centers has to be found. If kids go in for mistermeanors at age 7 they might come out at age 8 harden criminals (in the 8 year old sense of the word). This alternative has to be found first before 7 years olds go behind bars or an increase in crime could be the result. But in the mean time a reduction to 10 should be brought in. Just so kids like the killers of Jamie Bulger don't go free.

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Great article from the BBC. Thanks to Sliabh my favourite.

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possible the 7 most damaging words to Geogre Bush.

This is what Kanye West said . video here said on a NBC money drive.

George Bush doesn't care about black people!

Scaucer of milk for Microsoft

From Toms blog. looks like Microsoft and google are squaring up for a fight. Weather this will be financial remains to be seen.

I swear allegiance to the 12 stars of Europe.

When immigrants come into America they have to swear allegiance to America. I presume when they enter Ireland they have to swear an oath to the constitution or the country. (if not they probably should. Also I am being sloppy here not looking it up but its late.) However under new guidelines being discussed in Europe they want them to swear an oath of allegiance to EU laws and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights,. Is this just the start of an European superstate. They are just by passing the whole national government. I am an Irish person first European Second and I would expect any emigrant to be the same. (well Irish before European anyway and there kids should be Irish first). It seems some in Europe want to erode our national identities this is Europes great assist its diversity but some seem to want to create a homogeneous identity like America Also i Know i was suppose to have a follow up article but I haven't got around to it yet.