Brussels elites sometimes grumble that not enough of the EU’s unfortunate “citizens” take their opportunity to vote in elections for the European parliament. Perhaps this is because when they do vote nobody pays attention:

The second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty will be held in the autumn, Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche said yesterday. He added that as part of the process of steering its way out of recession Ireland needed to secure its position within the European Union. Speaking in Berlin to the German Council on Foreign Relations, the Minister said he wanted to deliver the message that Ireland was coming to grips with its problems and taking decisive action to bring the Government’s finances under control, ensure the health of the banking system and improve competitiveness. “Part of this determined effort to steer Ireland out of recession involves securing our position within the European Union by dealing decisively with the implications of last year’s referendum result and drawing the necessary lessons from it,” said Mr Roche.

Note the way the do-over is linked to Ireland’s horrendous economic problems. Roche’s none-too subtle message: Vote “yes,” or no more money is coming Ireland’s way. What Roche will not say, of course, is that one of the key reasons that Ireland got into this mess in the first place was the (unaccountably still popular) decision to join the euro, a-one-size-fits-all currency that has proved, inevitably, to be anything but.