Will they listen?

The Irish people have sent yet another resounding raspberry to the European Union telling them that the people of Europe don't want just don't want this bloody awful constitution - whatever they want to call it.

This was all the more remarkable as the Irish No campaign was not supported by a single mainstream Irish political party. They were all behind the campaign to say Yes to a treaty which many of them openly admitted they hadn't read and didn't understand. Unfortunately for them, the people of Ireland are not so easily fooled.

The question is, will the EU integrationists at home and in Brussels listen to what the people tell them?

Gordon Brown has said he won't. He plans to go ahead with ratifying the treaty against the wishes of the people of Britain - even though it can not be implemented unless all EU member nations agree. And Ireland can not do that now. So what next?

My bet is that it will either be forced through as it is with concessions or "opt outs" for Ireland or it will be passed piecemeal by various directives and diktats from Brussels. I'm guessing of course, but the one thing I am certain of is that the federalists will not give up their goal to create a United States of Europe.