As I awoke on a sunny morning last week to the news that Ireland looked set to reject the Lisbon treaty, I couldn't help but smile. Living quite a distance from home in the US, I felt proud that my home nation had taken a stand against the increasing power and encroaching bureaucracy of the European Union.

In the run-up to the election, the Irish government and the other establishment parties were confident of a "yes" vote. Indeed it has served to illustrate just how much the ruling elite in the South is out of touch with the ordinary people of Ireland. Perhaps more disturbing is the fact that most of the major political parties in the Republic seem so desperately keen to cosy up to a European elite.

Brian Cowen will live to forget his words that he "hoped that common sense would prevail" with a "yes" vote. What is this common sense that he spoke of? A common sense that would require Ireland as a nation to continue to play second fiddle to the larger nations of the European Union? Or perhaps it is the common sense that would decrease our voting rights in Europe and increase the voting of larger nations like Germany?

We all can agree that the European Union has brought significant economic development to both parts of the island. A strong economic Europe is something we can do with. An increasing bureaucratic mess of political laws is something we can do without.

Paul Lilly

Philadelphia