Feline neighbour

Friday the 13th: 53.4% No; 46.6% Yes. The Lisbon Treaty referendum has been defeated. I was out this afternoon shortly after the result had been confirmed (getting my printer's ink cartridges refilled). They had the radio on to keep customers amused while waiting for refills, and the pundits and the politicians were at it as usual, putting their spin on things. I got annoyed by some of the interviewer's questions, which were couched in such a way as to suggest that Irish government ministers may be in for a bumpy ride at the next meeting of the Council of Ministers. Why should they be? Democracy has had its day, and rather than adopt an apologetic attitude among their peers, our representatives should simply state facts: we can't ratify the treaty without amending our Constitution. A referendum has been held, the amendment has been defeated. End of story. Unfortunately, previous experience suggests that it won't be as simple as that. We voted against the Nice Treaty in 2001, that decision wasn't good enough, we were asked to vote again, and a Yes was secured on that second attempt. I sincerely hope that won't happen this time. If 'they' try it on, I'd be fairly confident that such a ploy won't work a second time, since there's a lot of bad feeling after that 'go back and do it right this time' experience. (In retrospect, I can't help feeling that a No was right that time also. Admitting 10 new countries in one fell swoop was a big mistake.)

Anyway, enough of all that. While walking back home I met this neighbour. We had a little chat, I was granted permission to take a photograph, then we parted company. Nice meeting you, puss.