The people have been cynically prevented from having any say on whether or not it should be endorsed - clearly because a negative outcome in many nations was an absolute certainty, beginning in the UK. After all, to win in Ireland, they had to: lie, buy, repeat and cheat. [There must be a rap number in there somewhere.]
I'm afraid that the cartoon with this piece has it 100% wrong; the boulders are being pushed across the path not away from it!