Europe's new admin package is seen by its British opponents as an instrument to virtually destroy any vestiges of the UK's remaining sovereignty, and they will be praying for a "No" vote when Irish voters go to the polls today to decide whether their country backs the Treaty of Lisbon. If they don't, then it's back to square one.

And, reportedly, there is no Plan B in the Euro federalists' briefcase.

Am I pleading with the Emerald Isle to limit the damage from a nightmare situation which, after all, was (partly) my fault?

Absolutely. I was one of those mugs in the 1970s who believed the lies of Grocer Heath and Gannex Wilson, and voted "Yes" to Common Market membership in the referendum of 1975. So much for the promises of "we're joining nothing but a free trade association".

Economic benefits were also promised. I am reminded of the old adage, "If it sounds too good to be true, then..."

In an under-reported speech in the Commons last week, Tory Peter Lilley recorded that last year the EU passed no fewer than 177 directives, similar to our Acts of Parliament, and 2,033 regulations enforceable in the UK, as well as making 1,045 decisions which affect us.

These figures emphasise what has been going on over the past 30 years.

Make no mistake, today's Irish vote is vital to Britain.

The EU's 26 other members are ratifying the Lisbon document through their national parliaments and administrations, but Ireland requires all EU treaties to be ratified by referendum.

We were cheated out of a referendum by New Labour. Our bacon was saved in the constitutional referendum of 2005, with a "No" verdict from voters in France and the Netherlands. But a public voice in these two countries was denied this time around.

The UK government and local authorities have come in for much stick in recent years over new legislation which has aroused howls of anger, protest and disbelief. How many of these bureaucratic diktats emanate from Brussels, and how many from Westminster?

Most of them come from the EU's faceless law-makers (with some made even worse by their interpretations in this country), and the rest from crass government at Westminster and local council level. Who's responsible for what is often not easy to find out.

Defence and foreign policy are among the very few powers we have left these days, and they are already under threat from the proposed new "European Army". Let's keep our fingers crossed that the Irish can put the brakes on Europe's constitutional juggernaut.

I'd happily kiss the Blarney Stone if that was so.

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