And so it goes, regulating courgettes’ shape, imperfections, softness of the seeds and who knows what else. It’s riveting. Any wonder the Irish voted no?

Parliaments may now soldier on as if the Irish referendum never happened – the UK parliament did so on June 18 – but the problem remains. Many in Europe feel alienated from a political process whose arcane language and Byzantine rules they find hard to understand, let alone embrace. And if Lisbon comes into force, this problem will only be compounded by the further transfer of sovereignty away from member states, in the critical field of foreign policy. True, it is unlikely that Europe will dispatch its mighty armies to the battlefield any time soon. But even if it is not the lives of the nation’s soldiers that is at stake, the nature of foreign policy is ultimately that: supreme national interests may be put in jeopardy by leaders and officials who were not elected, based on rules and procedures most citizens have not given their assent to, let alone read or understood.

The Irish “No” was almost certainly not to the substance of the Lisbon Treaty – not enough people understood what it entailed – but to the opaqueness and lack of democracy characterising EU decision-making on issues that affect our daily lives, our cherished traditions and our ability to rule for ourselves. The Eureaucrats’ regulatory fury has meant, increasingly, that our destiny is determined by benevolent – and somewhat patronising – philosopher kings, who know, better than the people, what’s good for them. Saying no, Ireland may not have put the last nail in the coffin of the Lisbon Treaty. But it has told our leaders that the future of democracies cannot be decided by bureaucrats alone.