It's the Yes - No game show

SpunOutter Ian Howley ponders the point of Lisbon Treaty posters.

It was a Thursday morning at 5.30am and I was on my way down to Dublin to meet the other SpunOutters (SpunOut.ie Youth Board members). I had two hours sleep and was sitting in the bus station with some strange people sitting beside me. I remember thinking to myself, “I just want to get on the bus and get some sleep.”

As the bus arrived, I made my way to the back of the bus and found myself a nice snug area to fall asleep for the next four hours… or so I thought! Drunken people decided that of all the free places that they could sit, they wanted to sit right behind me. I do attract them! So with no hope of getting any sleep, I put on my music and gazed out the window. And, it didn’t take too long for the ‘Yes/No game show’ to start.

What I’m referring to is the posters for the Lisbon Treaty, you know this treaty that all of Europe seems to want us to vote yes for? Well, I wasn’t long into the journey when I noticed that basically any free space on a pole was plastered with a poster trying to convince us to vote either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. At this stage, I was captured by just how many posters there were. I felt like I was being brainwashed.

It started… Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, No, No, No, Yes, No, Yes, No, No, Yes, Yes and so on. My sleep deprived brain then started to find this funny.  As the bus got faster, so did the rate of the signs. I couldn’t stop looking at these signs- I was mesmerised! I kept on saying to myself as I saw these posters…Yes, Yes, No, No, No, Yes, Yes, Yes.

Then, out of the blue I saw a poster of three monkeys. Well, my brain could not hack it any more. I started laughing out loud and I couldn’t stop. The drunken people behind me looked strangely at me. Ironic!

After the laughter subsided, I thought to myself: what must foreigners think when they see these posters plastered up all over the place? In a time when we are spending too much and supposed to be eco-friendly, aren’t these posters just a waste of money and harming the planet? They tell you absolutely nothing about what the treaty does for you, the individual. They’re merely posters for smug politicians to place their mug shots on!

After four hours of watching the Yes/ No Game show, I can tell you I still have no idea what the Lisbon Treaty is about. All I know is that every time I see those monkeys I will laugh. With the ‘Yes/ No Game Show’ coming to an end soon, one thing I do know is that it is set to get its biggest viewing, as all of Europe tune-in to see how we vote. A vote, which the majority of people still seem to know nothing about. Either Europe will love us or hate us (for about two days).

So when you ask someone if they are voting ‘Yes’ or ‘No,’ welcome them to the ‘Yes/ No Game Show.’ A game show costing us millions to play in and yet we don’t know what the prize is at the end. Unless it’s one of those monkey posters…
I want one of them.

By: Ian Howley